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VALLEY FORGE. 



PROCEEDINGS 

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 

Centennial Celebration 

OF THE 

OCCUPATION OF VALLEY FORGE 

BY THE 

CONTINENTAL ARMY, 

UNDER 

GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

June 19, 1878. 

ALSO, 

DEDICATION OF HEADQUARTERS, 
June 19, 1879. 



WITH AN APPENDIX. 






PRINTED BY 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIA. 
1879. 



>:- 



OFFICERS OF THE DAY. 



PRESIDING OFFICER, 

Governor JOHN F. HARTRANFT, of Harrisburg. 

MARSHAL, 

Major-General DAVID McM. GREGG, of Reading 

ORATOR, 

H. ARMITT BROWN, Esq., of Philadelphia. 

HISTORIAN, 

Colonel THEODORE W. BEAN, of Norristown. 

poetess, 
Mrs. M. E. THROPP CONE, of Valley Forge. 

POET, 

Rev. J. GARRETT WALKER, of Philadelphia. 

MUSICAL DIRECTOR, 
JOHN O. K. ROBARTS, of Phcenixville. 

Smtm umkaowif 



JUNE 19th, 177S. 



JUNE 19th, 1878. 




Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge. 

[Engraved 18J0.] 



The object of the Centennial Association of Valley Forge 
is the purchase of Gen. Washington's headquarters, to be pre- 
served as a memorial of the "sacrificial winter spent there by 
the Continental Army." 

It is intended to make this, as far as possible, "a. work 
National in its proportions and its honors." 

To accomplish this, certificates of stock will be issued at $1 
per share. At the same time subscriptions of larger sums are 
solicited and earnestly desired. It is a matter of the first im- 
portance to secure the support of the Historical Society of 
Pennsylvania, and other States. With their influence and that 
of the Society of the Cincinnati which represents the de- 
scendants of the brave men "who camped in those historic 
snows," the patriotism and legendary interests of the people 
may be aroused. 

The Masonic fraternity, of which Gen. Washington was a 



member, Odd Fellows, and other secret organizations, will all 
be invited to unite in making this a complete success. 

Members of the numerous Grand Army Posts have a com- 
rade's interest in all that pertains to him who was " First in war, 
first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," and 
will, without doubt, cheerfully respond when called upon, by 
entertainments or direct contributions, to increase the general 
fund. 

The public schools in the country include large numbers, 
who will soon appear as the representative men and women of 
the land. Their daily studies make them familiar with its his- 
tory. A personal interest in the locality should be given them by 
linking their work and names with this memorable spot, through 
entertainments, which, it is proposed, should be given by each 
school, or several uniting in one district. This plan has the hearty 
approval of Penna. State Superintendent J. P. Wickersham. 

When the purchase is completed it is designed to make the 
headquarters an attractive point in this historic region. To col- 
lect there valuable papers and other matter relating to that 
period, and with furniture of a century ago, to restore, in a 
measure, the appearance it wore when Washington was resident 
beneath its roof. 

Mrs. WM. H. HOLSTEIN, 

Eegeut of Centennial Association of Valley Forge. 
Bridgeport P. O., Montgomery Co., Pa. 



Valley Forge Centennial Celebration. 



On the 18th day of December, 1877, the following-named 
persons — Isaac W. Smith, Colonel Theo. W. Bean, Dr. N. A. 
Pennypacker, General B. F. Fisher, Major R. R. Corson, Chas- 
Ramey, Major B. F. Bean, John W. Eckman, I. Heston Todd, 
Charles Mercer, John H. Rowan, Daniel Webster, John Robb 
— met at the residence of the first-named gentleman, in the vil- 
lage of Valley Forge, at which meeting Mr. I. W. Smith was 
selected to preside, and Mr. John Robb was chosen secretary, 
and John W. Eckman treasurer. These gentlemen organized 
"The Centennial Association of Valley Forge," and resolved 
that " a demonstration be made on the centennial anniversary 
of the departure of General Washington's army from Valley 
Forge." 

At the second meeting of the association the several com- 
mittees were appointed to make the necessary preparations for 
the anniversary ceremonies.* 

Subsequent meetings were held, and various suggestions 
considered. The several committees performed their respective 
duties, and by a general correspondence, together with the 
publication of an address to "The Industrial Interests of the 
Schuylkill Valley," obtained a general suspension of business 
on the 19th day of June, the day selected by the association for 
the ceremonies. 

At the meeting held February 22, 1878, the Committee on 
Memorial Design and Eredtfon ma&e a report favorable to the 
purchasing of the Headquarters Building, and suggesting that 
the matter be placed in the hands of the ladies, the executive 
officer to be appointed by the association, to be called the Lady 

* See Appendix for committees. 



4 VALLEY FORGE. 

Regent. At the next meeting Mrs. Anna M. Holstein was 
selected Lady Regent. 

On the 27th day of May, 1878, General David McM. Gregg 
was chosen as Chief-Marshal for the day, and Governor John 
F. Hartranft to preside at the meeting in the Grand Tent. 

THE DAY. 

Early on the morning of the 19th day of June, 1878, the vil- 
lagers were awakened by the morning gun, followed at sunrise 
by a Federal salute by the Griffin Battery of Phcenixville, com- 
manded by Captain John Dennithorne. At seven o'clock the 
roads commenced to be thronged by the yeomanry of the sur- 
rounding country, and as early as half past seven the imme- 
diate vicinity of the Headquarters was crowded with the impa- 
tient people, anxious to view the building that has connected 
with it such a valuable historical association. 

The reception accorded to Governor John F. Hartranft and 
Major-General Winfield S. Hancock, U.S.A., at half past eight 
o'clock, was a pleasant feature of the day's programme, — both 
citizens of Montgomery County, and both in high official 
station. 

By this time the trains of the Philadelphia and Reading Rail- 
road Company, who had given generous support to the enter- 
prise from the start, began to empty their load of human freight, 
which kept up without intermission until late in the afternoon, 
and by which means at least thirty thousand persons were con- 
veyed to Valley Forge alone. The number in attendance was 
variously estimated by different good authorities at from forty- 
five to fifty thousand, some even exceeding this last estimate 
by at least twenty thousand. 

The memorial service was held on the hill near the village, 
at nine o'clock, attended by an immense throng. It was as 
follows : 



VALLEY FORGE. 



MEMORIAL SERVICE, 

At nine o'clock, on Grounds in Valley Forge, Rev. Job F. Halsey, D.D. 

Presiding. 



1. Dirge (Kurek's) Phcenix Military Band. 

L. B. Vanderslice, Leader. 

2. Invocation . . Prof. F. A. Muhlenburg, D.D., Rev. A. J. Weddell. 

3. Hymn, " Before Jehovah's Awful Throne" .... Tune, Migdol. 

By a Chorus of 350 voices, recruited from Reading, Pottstown, Spring 
City, Trappe, Phcenixville, Norristown, and Manayunk. 

Before Jehovah's awful Throne, 

Ye nations, bow with sacred joy : 
Know that the Lord is God alone ; 

He can create, and He destroy. 

His sovereign power, ■without our aid, 

Made us of clay, and formed us men j 
And when like wand'ring sheep we strayed 

He brought us to His fold again. 

We are His people, we His care, 

Our souls, and all our mortal frame ; 
What lasting honors shall we rear, 

Almighty Maker, to Thy name ? 

Wide as the world is Thy command, 

Vast as eternity, Thy love ; 
Firm as a rock Thy truth must stand, 

When rolling years shall cease to move. 

4. Responsive Service, Rt. Rev. M. A. De W. Howe, D.D., LL. D., Rev. Isaac 

Gibson, Rev. John Dyson. 

Minister. — The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they 
that dwell therein. 

People. — For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the 
floods. 

Minister. — The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the 
heavens. 

People. — Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high ; and whose 
truth endureth to all generations ? 

Minister. — The Lord is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of 
trouble. 

People. — The Lord of Hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge. 



6 VALLEY FORGE. 

Minister. — O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth 
forever. 

People. — The Lord hath made known unto us His salvation, and He hath re- 
deemed us from our enemies. 

Minister. — Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from 
the hand of the enemy. 

People. — They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city 
to dwell in. 

Minister. — Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered 
them out of their distress. 

People. — He led them forth by a right way, that they might go to a city of habi- 
tation. 

Minister. — O that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His 
wonderful works to the children of men. 

People. — Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord; who can show forth all 
His pi-aises? 

Minister. — Blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord, and the people whom 
He hath chosen for His inheritance. 

People. — The Lord will give strength unto His people ; the Lord will bless His 
people with peace. 

Minister. — We went through fire and water, but He brought us to a healthy place. 

People. — The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys are covered with corn ; 
they shout for joy, they also sing. 

Minister. — He hath not dealt so with any nation, and as to His judgments we 
have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. 

People. — Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God 
of our salvation. 

Minister. — O come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the 
Rock of our salvation. 

People. — Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a 
joyful noise unto Him with Psalms. 

Minister. — Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from Everlasting to Everlasting, 
and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the Lord. 

5. Gloria Patri : Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. 

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. 
Amen. 

6. Reading of Scripture, Deut. xxviii. 1-14, Rev. IV. P. Breed and Rev. 

William A. yenks. 

7. Anthem, " Erect your Heads, Eternal Gates" .... Chorus. 

Erect your heads, eternal gates 

Unfold to entertain 
The King of Glory : see ! He comes 

With His celestial train. 

Who is the King of Glory ? who ? 

The Lord for strength renowned; 
In battle mighty : o'er His foes 

Eternal Victory crowned. 



VALLEY FORGE. j 

8. Prayer . . Rev. Simeon Siegfried, Jr., Rev. P. S. Benson, D.D. 

9. Hymn, " God Bless our Native Land !" Chorus. 

The atidience rose and joined in singing. Tune, America. 

God bless our native land ! 
Firm may she ever stand 

Through storm and night ; 
When the wild tempests rave, 
Ruler of winds and wave, 
Do Thou our country save 

By Thy great might. 

For her our prayer shall rise 
To God, above the skies : 

On Him we wait : 
Thou who art ever nigh, 
Guarding with watchful eye, 
To Thee aloud we cry, 

God save the State ! 

Our fathers' God, to Thee, 
Author of liberty, 

To Thee we sing : 
Long may our land be bright 
With freedom's holy light; 
Protect us by Thy might, 

Great God, our King. 

10. Lord's Prayer Rev. Henry M. Kieffer. 

11. Doxology, " Praise God," etc. . . . . . . . Chorus. 

12. Benediction .... Rev. J. Grier Ralston, LL.D., D.D. 

13. Hymn, " Amen, Amen, Amen" Chorus. 

REVIEW. 

At 10.30 a.m. the procession of military and civic societies 
was formed under the command of General David McM. Gregg, 
and proceeded to Mr. I. Heston Todd's field, where the grand 
review by Major-General W. S. Hancock, Governor John F. 
Hartranft, and other prominent officials was held. There were 
at least five thousand men in line, and the different organiza- 
tions marched in the following order : 

Chief-Marshal Gregg, with mounted staff, dressed in Continental uniform. 
Philadelphia City Troop, Lieutenant Wilson. 
West Chester Troop, Captain Matlack. 

American Band, Boston. 

Boston Fusileers, Captain H. A. Snow. 

Reading Rifles, Lieutenant Propst. 

United Cornet Band. 



V 



3 VALLEY FORGE. 

American Rifles, Wilmington, Delaware. 

Washington Grays' Band. 

Washington Grays, Philadelphia, Captain Elliott. 

West Chester Grays, Captain J. E. McFarland. 

Eleventh Regiment, N. G. P., Co. G, Cooper Rifles, of Media, Captain John W. 

Russell. 

Co. C, Coatesville, Captain Brown. 

Wayne Fencibles, West Chester, Captain I. P. Cornwell. 

Beck's Cornet Band. 

First Regiment, N. G. P., of Philadelphia, Captain Muldoon, commanding Co.'s 

A, K, F, H, G, I, D, E, C, and B. 

Third Regiment, Co. B, Delaney Guards, West Chester. 

Chester Springs Soldiers' Orphans. 

Griffin Battery, Phoenixville, Captain J. B. Dennithorne. 

Montgomery Pioneer Corps, Norristown, Captain Darlington. 

1. O. O. F., of Norristown. 

O. U. A. M., of Philadelphia. 

Phoenix Iron Co.'s Workingmen. 

Employees of the Phoenixville Iron Company, with miners' navvies, smelting, 

deport men, puddlers, etc. 

Posts Nos. 76 and 16, G. A. R., of Reading, Pennsylvania. 

Posts Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 94, of Philadelphia. 

Delegation of citizens of Reading. 

Philadelphia Battalion of Patriarchs, I. O. O. F. 

Hiawatha and Ashland Councils, O. U. A. M. 

With great difficulty the Washington Troop of Paoli man- 
aged to keep the swelling mass of humanity from pressing 
beyond the imaginary line, marked by the grass having been 
mown off, until eleven o'clock, when the barouche containing 
the reviewing officers took its position near Washington's oak. 
The line and the people who followed hid the road for more 
than a mile, and with great difficulty, and after the line had 
been twice broken by the surging mass from the other direc- 
tion, finally succeeded in marching around the large fifteen- 
acre field, the van touching the rear. The review was a mag- 
nificent spectacle. 

At mid-day the national salute of thirty-eight guns was fired 
by the Griffin Battery. 

GRAND STAND. 

At one o'clock the services of the day were held in the large 
tent, secured at heavy expense from Boston, Massachusetts. 



VALLEY FORGE. g 

Mr. Isaac W. Smith, President of the Association, announced 
the organization, which was as follows, to wit : 

Presiding Officer. — Governor John F. Hartranft. 

Vice-Presidents. — George W. Childs, A. E. Borie, William 
Sellers, Seth Humphreys, M. S. Longaker, William Wayne, 
Thomas C. Humphrey, William McColough, P. Frazer Smith, 
J. Lacy Darlington, Dr. J. B. Wood, Hon. J. B. Everhart, Hon. 
Washington Townsend, Hon. William Ward, Dr. J. W. Evans, 
Levi G. McCaully, Maj. E. B. Moore, J. Smith Futhey, Thomas 
McColough, Hamilton Egbert, Thomas Liversidge, James 
Shaw, Joseph Lees, William Watt, Isaac Richardson, J. B. 
Walker, Rev. C. J. Thompson, Hon. Lewis Thompson, Wil- 
liam L. Williamson, C. M. Wheatley, Alexander Kennedy, 
Capt. S. Halman, Charles H. Rodgers, Edward H. Coates, Jo- 
siah D. Brooks, John J. Kersey, Hon. Horatio Gates Jones, S. 
W. Pennypacker, William Auchenbach, A. Nesbitt Trumbull, J. 
Price Wetherill, John A. Leslie, Thomas Mercer, Henry Potts, 
George Rice, Frederick Lauer, Henry Gerger, Abraham Bar- 
ker, William B. Rambo. 

Secretaries. — John McArthur, Thomas Radcliff, W. W. Potts, 
B. F. Williams, C. H. Pennypacker, John A. Groff, Nevin 
Fisher, James G. Wells, W T illiam Stephens, Dr. C. N. Fred- 
erick, Edward Willson, Harry Walker, William W. Davis, Jef- 
frey John, H. C. Conard, William L. Kennedy, Capt. John T. 
Potts, William E. Lockwood, E. J. Davis, B. F. McAtee, John 
M. Reeves, Thomas C. Steel, Oscar R. Meyers, George Slay- 
maker, F. A. Getze, Dr. J. M. Barton, William Watkin, Paul S. 
Revels. 

Upon taking the chair, Governor Hartranft said, — 

Fellow-Citizens, — We have come to commemorate the 
darkest hours of the Revolution. Yet they were the hours of 
t triumph also, and it was at Valley Forge that American inde- 
pendence was won. In the rude huts of the dreary encamp- 
ment were born the unconquerable will, the courage never to 
submit or yield, that proved to England and the world that, 
although the country might be overrun, the people could not 
be subdued. And during those weary months the Continental 
army received the training and discipline which afterwards ena- 



! VALLEY FOR GE. 

bled it to meet the soldiers and mercenaries of Great Britain in 
equal fight, without ever suffering a defeat. Therefore, on this 
spot, hallowed by hunger and cold, disease and destitution, we 
meet in gladness to commemorate a fortitude in camp supe- 
rior to courage in battle, a steadfastness more powerful than 
enthusiasm, and a devotion to a cause and chieftain utterly for- 
getful of self. And if it be possible to draw from the past a 
lesson for the present, or seek in war an example for peace, 
we can find it in the loyalty and devotion that preserved the 
sacred fires of freedom amid the frosts and snows of the winter 
encampment at Valley Forge. 

i. Fantasia (C. von Weber's) Ringgold Band. 

Joseph Winter, Leader. 

2. Centennial Hymn .... Words and Music by Dudley Buck. 

O Peace ! on thine upsoaring pinion, 

Through the world thine onward flight taking, 
Teach the nations, their turmoil forsaking, 

To seek thine eternal dominion. 

Jehovah ! Thou sovereign of nations, 

Sweet peace to our land Thou hast granted, 

Be Thy praises eternally chanted 
In music forever, for evermore. 

3. "One Hundred Years" Chorus. 

Sung by ye Continentals, of Pheenixville, thirteen in number, dressed in 
full Continental Costume. 
One hundred years have rolled away 
Since that high heroic day, 
When our fathers in the fray 
Struck the conq'ring blow ! 

Praise to them, the bold, who spoke; 
Praise to them, the brave, who broke 
Stern oppression's galling yoke, 

One hundred, hundred years ago. 

4. Prayer Rev. Charles Collins, Jr. 

i. " Waken, Voice of the Land's Devotion" .... Chorus. 

Words by His Excellency Bayard Taylor, Music by J. C. Bethel. 

Waken, voice of the land's devotion ! 

Spirit of freedom, awaken all ! 
Ring, ye shores, to the song of ocean, 
Rivers answer and mountains call ! 
The golden day has come ; 
Let every tongue be dumb 



VALLEY FORGE. n 

That sounded its malice or murmured its fears ; 

She hath won her story ; 

She bears her glory; 
We crown her the land of a hundred years ! 
We crown her the land of a hundred years ! 

Out of darkness and toil and danger, 

Into the light of victory's day, 
Help to the weak and home to the stranger, 
Freedom to all, she hath held her way. 

Now Europe's orphans rest 

Upon her mother breast ; 
The voices of nations are heard in the cheers 

That shall cast upon her 

New love and honor, 
And crown her the queen of a hundred years, 
And crown her the queen of a hundred years. 

6. Poem R ev . J. G. Walker. 

7. " The American Hymn" Solo and Chorus. 

Words and Music by M. Keller. 

Speed our republic, O Father on high ! 

Lead us in pathways of justice and right ; 
Rulers as well as the ruled, " One and all," 

Girdle with virtue the armor of might ! 

Foremost in battle for Freedom to stand, 
We rush to arms when aroused to its call ; 

Still as of yore, when George Washington led, 
Thunders our war-cry: we conquer or fall. 

8. Historical Paper Colonel Theo. W. Bean. 

9. " Hail, Valley Forge" Chorus. 

Words by J. O. K. Rob arts. Tune, America. ( The audience 
joined in singing.') 

All hail to Valley Forge, 
Thy wooded hills and gorge, 

Thrice hallow'd sod ! 
'Twas here with bloody feet, 
With scarcely food to eat, 
Our fathers did repeat 

Their trust in God. 

We now our voices raise, 
In swelling notes of praise, 

On this glad day : 
Day when our sturdy sires 
Quenched here their patriot fires, 
And, urged by high desires, 

Went on their way. 



j 2 VALLEY FORGE. 

Went forth both sire and son, 
With noble Washington, 

To dare, to do; 
With courage did they stride, 
Or bravely forward ride, 
Unflinching side by side, 

So bold and true. 

And now we reap the good 
Of that for which they stood 

With life in hand ; 
These wooded hills and dales 
Of freedom tell the tales, 
Their fame waft friendly gales 

Throughout the land. 

Great God, to Thee we cry, 
Unto Thy throne on high, 

In joyous lays ! 
For this Centennial hour, 
O Lord, give us full power 
To thank Thee for the dower, — 

Accept our praise. 

10. Poem, Written by Mrs. M. E. Thropp Cone. Read by Lsaiah H. Brown, Esq. 

11. Oration ....... Henry Armitt Brown, Esq. 

12. " The Heroes of Valley Forge" Chorus- 

Words by Rev. Sidney Dyer. Tune, Old Hundred. 
Our noble sires, of all bereft 

Save their brave hearts and trust in God, 
Came here with bleeding feet that left 

In crimson stains a hallowed sod. 

'Mid pinching want and wintry storm, 

Their shelter oft the drifting snow, 
They kept their love of country warm, 

And gathered strength to smite the foe. 

By freedom's altar firm they stood, 

And breathed their solemn vows to Heaven, 

That by each drop of priceless blood 
The Tyrant's chains should all be riven. 

Here, too, beneath the snow-clad trees, 

When other hearts were nigh despair, 
Our Washington, on bended knees, 

Look'd up to Heaven in faith and prayer. 

A hundred years of ebbing time 

Have gathered here this grand array, 
Rehearsing deeds grown more sublime 

As generations pass away. 



VALLR Y FORGE. 



13 



Oh ! sacred Fane of Patriot love ! 

Thrice hallowed ground their blood made free ! 
Grant thou, O Lord, that we may prove 

As true as they to Liberty. 

13. " Grand Hallelujah" (Handel's) Chorus. 

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, for the Lord 
God Omnipotent reigneth. 
( The audience 1 rose, joined in sifiging, and remained standing during 
the performance of the Hallelujah Chorus.) 

14. Benediction Rev. Joseph H. Boyd. 



PRAYER. 



BY THE REV. CHARLES COLLINS, PASTOR OF THE CENTENNIAL 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. 
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst 
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to ever- 
lasting, Thou art God. 

Thou doest according to Thy will, among the armies of 
Heaven, and rulest over the inhabitants of this lower world. 

Thou art the Sovereign Lord of the universe ; our fathers' 
God, in whom we trust. 

We would come humbly and reverentially before Thee, con- 
fessing that we are not deserving of one of the least of Thy 
mercies. Ours indeed has been a goodly heritage. It is with 
heartfelt thanks that we acknowledge Thy great goodness 
towards us. 

We thank Thee, O God, for the privilege we enjoy this day 
of standing upon hallowed ground ; the spot made sacred by 
the memories of the past! We take a retrospective glance 
through the years of a century, and gratefully record that Thou 
didst obtain for us the victory ! 

We thank Thee for the way that Thou hast led us as a 
people ; for all the deliverances we have experienced at Thy 
hand ; for all the prosperity we have enjoyed as a nation. 

We earnestly pray Thee, our Father, that Thou wilt continue 
to show us forbearance. Let us ever regard Thee as the infinite 
source of all our blessings. Dispose our hearts not only to 
thankfulness, but also to a reverential acknowledgment of Thy 



I4 VALLEY FORGE. 

constant faithfulness. Grant, O Lord, that the inhabitants of 
this country, individually, may ever revere the precept of Thy 
word, that " righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a 
reproach unto any people." Let Thy blessing, Almighty 
God, abide with us as a nation. Bless our common country. 
Let thy blessing abundantly rest upon our rulers : upon the 
President of the United States and the Governors of our several 
States. Give unto them all needed wisdom and grace, that 
they may rule in Thy fear, and do those things which shall be 
for the best interests of our country, and for Thy glory. 

Grant, our Heavenly Father, that Thy providential care and 
protection may be round about us this day. Look with favor 
upon this concourse of people, and if it please Thee, in coming 
years, let us enjoy as a nation other tokens of peace, prosperity, 
and sunshine ; and may a sense of Thy great goodness inspire 
us with a spirit of constant gratitude, and lead us to unfeigned 
repentance ; and, after this fleeting life, do Thou save us with 
an everlasting salvation. These favors we humbly ask, with 
the forgiveness of our many transgressions, in the name of our 
Divine Redeemer. And to the Father, and to the Son, and to 
the Holy Spirit, one God, we will ascribe everlasting praises. 
Amen. 



OUR FATHERLAND. 

BY REV. J. G. WALKER. 

Our Fatherland ! what words in song or story, 
That potentate or peasant ever heard, 

Are more replete with patriotic glory ? 

What passions thrill ! what memories are stirred ! 

Whene'er our thoughts within the circle roam, 

Of that loved country, which we call our own. 

Land of our birth ! where first our eyes in wonder, 
Scanned the broad azure of the sun-lit sky; 

Where our first hours of waking and of slumber, 
Were cheered and soothed with Mother's lullaby ; 

Where our young feet o'er hills and valleys trod, 

While we, through Nature, looked to Nature's God. 



VALLEY FOR GE. l r 

Land of our homes ! where with our kindred dwelling, 
We passed through scenes of mingled peace and strife ; 

Anon with joy or grief our bosoms swelling, 
Amid the sunshine or the clouds of life. 

Within whose realms all shades of bliss we knew, 

As toward the past the years unheeded flew. 

Land, where the ocean waves with foamy cresting 
Dash on the sloping shores both east and west ; 

The rock-ribbed cliff in solemn grandeur resting 
Beneath the surge that laves its stony breast ; 

While many a mighty river finds its mouth 

In northern lakes, or gulf upon the south. 

Land, where the mountains lift their heads so hoary 
Above the clouds ; and spread their massive feet 

In verdant vales ; where Nature's wondrous story, 
Divinely written, can be found complete, 

In tomes of priceless gems and precious ore, 

And plains and forests, stretched from shore to shore. 

Land, where the waving fields are ever spreading 
The rich rewards of honest freemen's toil ; 

And giant cities ever onward treading, 

Where cheerful traffic crowds the busy soil ; 

While myriad homes to quick existence spring, 

Each home a kingdom, and each man a king. 

Land, where th' admiring world beholds abiding, 
The fairest nation 'neath the circling skies ; 

The Stars upon her flag no hand dividing, 
Her Stripes unfurling their perennial dyes. 

Of all the standard sheets on land or seas, 

The prettiest banner fluttering in the breeze. 

Oh, land of lands, to all our hearts the nearest ! 

Land, where bright skies o'erhang the balmy air ! 
Oh, land of birth, and home, and kindred dearest ! 

Of treasures wondrous and of beauty fair! 



1 6 VALLEY FORGE. 

'Mid smiles, and songs, and shouts, and banners gay, 
We greet thee in memorial rhyme to-day. 

When sturdy, noble, self-denying men — 
Who knew their rights, and knowing, dared maintain — 
Turned with sad hearts from homes beyond the sea, 
To seek a shrine, where they on bended knee 
Might unmolested lift the voice in prayer, 
And worship God with none to interfere, 
They found these shores spanned by such temple dome ; 
Hither they came, and Freedom found a Home. 
Here, taught in Danger's school and trained to share 
The wanderer's weary watch and scanty fare, 
In dismal huts they pass the wintry day, 
Or couched on ice, they groan the night away ; 
Here sicken, waste, and fall beneath the breath 
Of vapors loaded with the seeds of death, 
Or find their graves in some wild solitude, — 
The victims of the red man's thirst for blood. 

Yet sweeter far to Puritanic taste, 
To dwell within the dreary, dangerous waste, 
Than bind the soul in chains or bend the knee 
Amid the classic realms of slavery. 
Sweeter to trust in Him, whose breath of might 
Strikes foul Oppression with its withering blight; 
Dissolves the spell that bound their native shores, 
And Freedom's charter to the world restores. 

Their children, nurtured on the simple plan 
Of loyalty, alike to God and man, 
Enshrined their teachings in the laws they named, 
And " Liberty through all the land" proclaimed. 
The bells rang out amid the gathering storm; 
The echoes died ; and lo ! a nation's born. 

And when maternal hands around our sires, 
Kindled the flames of War's terrific fires ; 
For Liberty, they toiled and hoped and cried ; 
For Liberty, they fought and bled and died ; 



VALLEY FORGE. 

For Liberty, — thanks be unto the Lord, 

Who gave the victory to Freedom's sword ! 

They triumphed, and with Stars and Stripes unfurled, 

They independent stood before the world. 

Thus did the God of battles deign to own 
The sacred cause by fearful conflict won. 
His favor through the storm still gleamed and glowed, 
And scattered light through dark Oppression's cloud. 
The vespers tolled the knell of slavery, 
And morn proclaimed the land forever free. 

To-day let grateful memory unfold 
In letters brighter than the glint of gold, 
The names of those, who, in resplendent train, 
Have marched to glory and undying fame. 
Their country called : and. with brave hearts starting 
At the sound, they gave the word of parting 
To all the joys and ties of friends and home, 
And for the Nation's life gave up their own. 

Hungry and foot-sore on these cheerless slopes, 
With wasted vesture and with shattered hopes ; 
Where wintry winds blew keen across the snows, 
They watched and waited for their distant foes; 
But no winds chilled their bosoms to despair, 
For Freedom's fires still warmed the freezing air ; 
And Freedom's leader, with his cheering words, 
Still nerved the trembling Continental swords ; — 
Renowned, revered, illustrious Washington ! 
The Nation's sire and the Nation's son. 

Rest, heroes, rest ! Thy graves are hallowed fanes. 
Our children's sons shall glory in thy names. 
Long as the seasons frame the circling years ; 
While winters chill or smiling summer cheers; 
Long as the billows surge, and breezes blow, 
And cloud-capped mountains shade the vales below; 
Long as attraction rolls our earth along 
Amid the myriad planetary throng ; — 
So long shall grateful millions love to spread 
Their floral offerings to the patriot dead ; 



17 



j8 VALLEY FORGE. 

And all posterity rejoice to raise 

In heart and voice your monument of praise. 

Well may we sing in grateful strains 

Of those, who with intrepid pen 
Signed that release from tyrant chains, 

Which made a Nation of Free-men. 
Ay ! well yon iron casket guards* — 

Unfolded to each eager eye — 
That inky scroll of manly words, 

The Charter of our liberty. 

Effulgent with Fame's endless glow, 

Perennial through the centuries; 
And constant as the ceaseless flow 

Of rivers hasting to the seas ; 
Such names as theirs can never die. 

Their vital power will still remain, 
When heads on coffin-pillows lie, 

And moulder back to dust again. 

When turning to the past, we see 

The surging waves of battle strife, 
Lashed by the winds of tyranny, 

And threatening the Nation's life ; 
Honor the dauntless Fifty-six, 

Whose loyal counsels bold and true, 
Did Freedom's helm securely fix, 

And sent the storm-tossed vessel through. 

But ne'er forget the gallant men 

Who gathered on that vessel's deck, 
With hands as mighty as the pen, 

And saved the lettered ship from wreck. 
From out these dreary hill-side shades 

They marched to stand amid the foam ; 
With valor drew their battle blades, 

And fought for Fatherland and Home. 



* The iron safe containing the original draft of the Declaration. 



VALLEY FORGE. 

While other heroes wrote so well, 

They made the Declaration good ; 
They voiced the truths in shot and shell, 

And then engrossed them with their blood. 
Thus to invading tyrant hordes 

They heralded the bold decree ; 
They carved the words with loyal swords, 

And struck the blows that made us free. 

Full well we know that royal George 

Was vanquished in the fearful fray; 
But ne'er forget that Valley Forge 

Secured our Independence Day. 
Remember well, when cannon boom, 

And bells ring out from South to North, 
There was "a nineteenth day of June," 

That gave to us " our glorious Fourth." 

What cherished record to the eye appears, 
As we look down the pages of the years, 
Since, in the mighty throes of battle strife, 
Our Heaven-blessed Nation struggled into life ! 
Wide o'er her realm the peaceful angel flies, 
And darkness pales, while morning visions rise; 
New energies reward the night of toil, 
And progress strides in triumph o'er the soil ; 
Nature pours out her blessings full and free 
To grace the products of man's industry ; 
Nations of every name and every zone 
Here seek a refuge and secure a home — 
Rejoicing on these western shores to find 
The equal heritage of all mankind. 

As years passed on, from homes apart, 
Our brothers sped themselves away, 

With fierce intent in every heart, — 

Some wore the Blue, and some the Gray. 

They marched to fields of deadly strife, 
And met in fratricidal fray; 



19 



20 VALLEY FORGE. 

With purpose strong as love of life, 

Some fought in Blue, and some in Gray. 

Each deemed his cause both true and just, 
And bravely strove to win the day ; 

And of the hosts who bit the dust, 
Some fell in Blue, and some in Gray. 

Where flowers bloom in southern vales ; 

Where waters dash in crystal spray; 
Where hills are fanned by northern gales ; 

Some sleep in Blue, and some in Gray. 

Over their graves the same sun throws 
His warm, benignant, peaceful sway ; 

And in their undisturbed repose, 
The Blue lies buried with the Gray. 

Ye living ! bring your garlands fair, 
And clasp your hands anew to-day; 

One flag still floats upon the air — 

We're brothers still, both Blue and Gray. 

And thus in brief, from records uneffaced, 
The Century of the Nation's life is traced. 
Though young in years, she still presents to view 
A model for all others old and new. 
She has her faults, 'tis true ; what gem of worth 
Is free from stains of contact with the earth? 

But though at times some men of wicked aim 
Control a system, the system's not to blame. 
Thank God for this ; the people have the right, 
In this our Fatherland, to rise in might, 
And give to truer men in Freedom's cause 
The power to make and execute the laws. 
And Heaven forbid that we should ever shirk 
The part each freeman has in such a work. 
'Tis ours to guard the golden ark that bears 
Our hope sublime through perils and through fears ; 



VALLEY FORGE. 2 I 

'Tis ours to keep unsullied, pure and good, 
The treasures purchased by heroic blood; 
'Tis ours to hold in check Ambition's lust, 
Curb lawless rule, crush Error in the dust ; 
To shroud the blight of foul Corruption's stain, 
And light the glory of a brighter fame. 
'Tis "we the people" make the government; 
We find but that to which we give consent. 

Oh, glorious Nation of the Stripes and Stars! 
Thy graceful features gleam amid thy scars. 
Free in the righteous laws thy people make, 
Free in the sacred vows thy people speak, 
Strong in defence of every cause that's just, 
True to thy motto : " In God is our trust" — 
Heaven speed thee on thy way through coming years, 
The heritage of joy to Freedom's heirs. 

O Thou, to whom our fathers looked and prayed, 
In times when patriot hearts were sore dismayed, 
May we, the children, still on Thee depend ! 
Be Thou the Nation's sure and constant friend ! 
And when, in immortality, we roam 
Beyond the confines of this earthly home, 
To higher realms may we in glory rise, 
And find " Our Fatherland" beyond the skies ! 



22 VALLEY FORGE. 

VALLEY FORGE. 

HISTORICAL ADDRESS BY COLONEL THEO. W. BEAN. 

The chronology of human events, however perfect in circum- 
stance or exhaustive in detail, unaided by philosophic deduc- 
tion, or connected narrative, is as unsatisfying to the mind in 
search of truth as bread without leaven and salt is unsavory to 
the sense of hungering taste. 

The historical associations and traditions of Valley Forge are 
so inseparably interwoven with the crucial test of colonial power 
and endurance, that to recall them from the shades of a century, 
without reference to the animating spirit of the struggle which 
inspired them, — without passing in review, however briefly, the 
events of the memorable campaign of 1777, culminating in the 
victory at Saratoga and the loss of Philadelphia, — would be to 
picture for your vision a broad and beautiful landscape without 
sky or horizon, or paint in histrionic character the fall of Jerusa- 
lem without a Titus, or the defence of Thermopylae without 
a Leonidas. 

COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT. 

The events of the American Revolution, as we learn them 
from those who participated in and lived contemporaneously 
with it, from the artists who pencilled its heroes, pictured its 
battles, and memorialized its dead, as disclosed by the his- 
torians who have collated and condensed the most conspicuous 
facts and circumstances connected with the struggle, reveal 
with certainty the immediate causes which precipitated the great 
crisis. 

If, however, we desire to thoroughly comprehend the inspira- 
tion of the period, if we hope to measure the responsibility and 
appreciate the requirements of the long and bitter conflict, if 
we wish to fully understand the spirit of devotion and match- 
less heroism of the fathers, we must look back and beyond the 
period of its commencement, to the colonial development, in 
which the right of self-government was formulated and asserted, 



VALLEY FORGE. 



23 



and its power consciously exercised by the people through their 
chosen representatives. 

It would be doing violence to the truth of history to assert 
that civil, religious, and political freedom were not enjoyed by 
the colonists for a considerable period prior to the Revolution ; 
nor will it do to assume that its exercise was permissive, to be 
enjoyed or enjoined, at the pleasure of official caprice or royal 
prerogative. 

In this behalf we refer with pleasure, and it may be with par- 
donable pride, to the history of Pennsylvania,* whose people 
made common cause of the Revolution, not more to acquire new 
rights than to preserve those they then possessed ; who, if slow 
and considerate in declaring for independence, waited only to 
be certain that their long enjoyed rights were endangered by 
the action of the home government, when they sealed the com- 
mon covenant, and counted not the cost, as measured by the 
destruction of property, the anguish of society, or the sacrifice 
of human life. 

If her conservative statesmen held in check for a time the 
fiery zeal of the Eastern school of patriots, led by John Adams, 
or sought to temper the emotional sentiments breathed upon 
the stormy times by the eloquent and prophetic Patrick Henry 
of the South, it was only responsive to the unwarlike character 
of her people, whose habits and happiness in the enjoyment of 
the practical fruits of civil liberty had been unbroken for almost 
a hundred years. 

Says Mr. Bancroft :f "The superiority of the civil over the 
military power was most deeply imprinted on the hearts of 
the people. It was borne in mind that victorious legions rev- 
olutionized Rome; that Charles I. sought to overturn the in- 
stitutions of England by an army ; that by an army Charles 
II. was brought back without conditions ; that by a stand- 
ing army which Americans themselves were to have been 
taxed to maintain, it had been proposed to abridge American 
liberties." 

* Charter of Charles II. of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender 
of the Faith, etc., to William Penn, Proprietor and Governor of the Province of 
Pennsylvania, 1 68 1. 

f Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. vi. p. 30. 



24 



VALLEY FORGE. 



In Congress this distrust of military power existed all the 
more, for the confidence and undivided affection which the peo- 
ple bore to the American Commander-in-Chief, and had for its 
excuse, that human nature was scarcely able to furnish an ex- 
ample of a military hero, eminent as a statesman, the liberator 
of his country, and yet desirous after finishing his work to 
return to private life, or accept office in the civil service of his 
country. None were more keenly sensible of public opinion 
upon this subject, none more deferential to the civil rights of the 
people than Washington, as shown by his extreme reluctance 
to exercise the extraordinary powers reposed in him from time 
to time by Congress. 

In his letter to the President of that body, written December 
15, 1777, amidst the discomforts and discouragements of his 
camp on these hills, he says :* " I confess I have felt myself 
greatly embarrassed with respect to a vigorous exercise of 
military power. To acts of legislation or civil authority they 
(the people) have ever been taught to yield a willing obedi- 
ence; on those of military power, whether immediate or derived 
from another source, they have ever looked with a jealous eye." 
This well-grounded respect for civil authority was a colonial 
development, responsive to the people's will, born of early peril 
and enterprise, the child of political promise, which claimed a 
continent for its heritage, and which could ill brook the re- 
straints necessarily imposed for the time being between the 
hostile lines of contending armies. It inspired alike the officer 
in the field and cabinet, the soldier in the army, and the citizen 
in private life ; aroused to a sense of danger by an unwarrant- 
able assault upon the imperishable principle, they unitedly de- 
clared their ultimatum to be the emancipation of the colonies 
from foreign dominion, and to this end pledged their fortunes, 
honors, and lives. 

The splendid stretch of civilization that fringed the Atlantic 
from Plymouth to Florida in 1681, rich in the promise of future 
empire, and richer, if possible, in tribute payable to monarchical 
power, was no less a wonder to Charles II. than we are to-day 
a prodigy in the eyes of Europe. Opportune beyond the power 

*Sparks's Washington, p. 243. 



VALLEY FORGE. 



25 



of human understanding were the providences of life which 
resulted in the colonization of the Delaware at this period in 
our history, by the truly great and good William Penn. The 
right of self-government, conceded to him and his followers 
by the terms of the Royal Charter- of Charles II., suggested 
an opportunity, promptly utilized by the free men of the prov- 
ince, who took advantage of the concessions agreed upon, and 
in the first great Council or Assembly, convened at Chester on 
the 7th day of December, 1682, passed the "Great Law,"* com- 
prising a general system of civil jurisprudence. By this law 
church and state were practically sundered, and ecclesiastical 
power was, for all future time in this Commonwealth, remitted 
to its original and only true jurisdiction. The axe went to the 
root of a power that had become pregnant with evil, and cor- 
rupt beyond the hope of reformation. 

These freemen sedulously guarded against the introduction 
of a jurisdiction in which the iniquities of Rome, Canterbury, 
and York, sanctioned by pope, bishop, and priest, were prac- 
tised in the name of religion upon the orphanage of England 
for centuries (London alone excepted), and in its place gave to 
themselves and their posterity a code of law, and tribunals to 
enforce it, which have in their development and perfection 
become temples of justice, and constitute in no inconsiderable 
degree our surest safeguards of liberty. 

Here it was in the fulness of time, and in the providence of 
God, that free men, in the exercise of sovereign power, were 
just, and reclaimed a right originally extorted from mankind 
by violence and cupidity, and for thousands of years maintained 
against the best interests of society, — here it was that free men 
solemnly declared that henceforth, in the province of Pennsyl- 
vania and the future Commonwealth.^ there should no longer 
be a preference of males over females, and of males of the same 
degree, of the eldest over the rest. 

Deeply interesting as her colonial history appears to be, and 
intimately as its details are associated with the conspicuous part 
her soldiers, statesmen, and citizens played in the Revolution, 
we cannot here pause to consider or review them. Suffice it to 

* Proud's History of Pennsylvania, vol. i. p. 207. 
■f Story on the Constitution, chap. xii. 



2 g VALLEY FORGE. 

say, that the period between the date of settlement in 1681 and 
her union with the thirteen original colonies in 1776 is replete 
with peaceful triumphs, and discloses fully the causes which 
made her people heroic in war, firm in friendship, temperate in 
council, — heroic in war, as personated in the life and public 
services of gallant Anthony Wayne ; firm in friendship, as 
shown by the unbroken fidelity of Robert Morris; temperate 
in council, as represented by the wise and philosophic Frank- 
lin, whose offices at home were conspicuous in restraining 
ambition and quieting dissensions, and abroad in hastening 
the consummation of engagements which gave us the aid of 
a French fleet and army, the certainty of which first reached 
Washington and his compatriots at Valley Forge. 

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1 777- 

No just conception of the scope and accomplishment of the 
campaign which terminated in the occupation and suffering at 
Valley Forge can be realized, unless it comprehend the move- 
ments and results of the two principal armies of the Middle 
States, and for whose conduct Washington, as Commander- 
in-Chief, was responsible to the Continental Government* 
To disconcert him by strategy, to compel him to battle with 
troops superior in armament and discipline, and to overwhelm 
him with numbers, was the general and well-matured plan of 
the enemy. The preparations of the home government to this 
end were commensurate with the reasonable hope of success ; 
and the belief that the resources of men and means so lavishly 
confided to commanders would speedily end the conflict, and 
compel submission to the Mother Country, was shared by 
many of the wayward and doubting of the period. 

The efforts of Washington through the winter of 1777 to 
organize a powerful army for the ensuing campaign is a matter 

* " On the 19th of June, 1775, Washington received his commission and instruc- 
tions as ' General and Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the United Colonies, 
and of all the forces raised or to be raised by them, and all others who shall vol- 
untarily offer their services and join the army for the defence of American Liberty.' 

" The favor lavished on the new chief of the Northern Department raised a doubt 
whether Washington retained authority over him, till Congress resolved, August, 
1777, that 'they never intended to supersede or circumscribe his power.'" — Ban- 
croft's History of the United States, vol. v. p. 591. 



VALLEY FORGE. 27 

of history. The hopes inspired from time to time by the flat- 
tering reports which reached his headquarters were cruelly 
disappointed, and he found himself not only powerless to take 
the aggressive, but unequal to that measure of defensive war- 
fare necessary to preserve his long lines unbroken. The steady 
and persevering courage, however, which had supported him, 
and the American cause, through the gloomy scenes of the 
preceding year, did not forsake him ; and that sound judgment 
which applies to the best advantages those means which are 
attainable, however inadequate they may be, still remained. 
His plan of operation was adapted to that which he believed 
the enemy had formed. He was persuaded either that General 
Burgoyne would endeavor to take Ticonderoga, and penetrate 
to the Hudson, in which event General Howe would co-operate 
with him, by moving up that river and possessing himself of the 
forts and high grounds commanding its passage, or that Bur- 
goyne would join the grand army at New York by sea, after 
which the combined armies would proceed against Philadelphia. 

To counteract the designs of the enemy, whatever they might 
be, to defend the three great points alike vital to the country — 
Ticonderoga, the Highlands of the Hudson, and Philadelphia 
— against two powerful armies, so much superior to his in 
arms, numbers, and discipline, it was necessary to make such 
disposition of his troops as would enable the several depart- 
ments to reciprocally aid each other without neglecting objects 
of great and almost equal magnitude, which were alike endan- 
gered, though widely divergent. To effect these purposes, the 
troops of New England and New York* were divided between 
Ticonderoga and Peekskill, while those from New Jersey to 
North Carolina inclusive were directed to assemble at the 
camp to be formed in New Jersey. 

The situation in May, 1777, was critical, and called into 
activity the magnificent horoscope of the Commander-in-Chief. 
In camp at Morristown, with an effective rank and file, exclud- 
ing cavalry and artillery, of less than six thousand men, after a 
winter of ceaseless anxiety in camp and field, and vain endeavor 
to secure large and certain accessions to his army, the enemy 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i. p. 145. 



2 8 VALLEY FORGE. 

certain to assume the aggressive as soon as the season would 
warrant the movement of troops, the Howes in possession of 
New York City with an army twice the number of his own, 
with a navy at command large enough to transport it with the 
speed of the winds to any point on the coast deemed vulner- 
able ; General Burgoyne with ten thousand veteran and volun- 
teer troops on Lake Champlain, and Colonel St. Leger with 
a co-operating army of veterans, Tories, and savages in the 
Mohawk Valley, waiting orders to march at the earliest practi- 
cable moment. 

As late as June 18, says a distinguished historian,* "the 
cares of the Northern Department were thrown upon the 
American Commander-in-Chief, and Schuyler besieged him 
with entreaties to supply his wants, and remedy all that was 
going wrong." As Commander-in-Chief of America, Washing- 
ton watched with peculiar care the Northern Department. 
Alarmed by Schuyler's want of fortitude, he ordered Arnold to 
his command, also Lincoln, who was acknowledgedly popular 
among the New England troops. Besides detaching these two 
distinguished officers and assigning them to the Northern De- 
partment, he added to their command General Glover's brigade 
of Continental troops, and yielded Colonel Morgan's corps of 
riflemen, upon request being made through Congress for them. 
The Continental armyf under the immediate command of 
Washington, charged with the defence of the Capital City, was 
the objective-point of the grand campaign, and the coveted 
prize of Lord Howe. To engage it in battle, to thoroughly 
defeat and dispirit it, to seize, fortify, and garrison Philadelphia, 
then quickly transfer the bulk of his army to co-operate with 
Burgoyne, and insure his triumph over Schuyler and Gates 
on the Hudson, was a consummation to which all energies were 
directed. 

The persistence of Washington in declining battle, save in 
his fortified camp at Middlebrook, his constant readiness to 
attack the flank of his sagacious adversary, should he attempt 
to cross the Delaware, there to be confronted by Arnold with 
a hastily improvised army, compelled General Howe to change 

* Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. v. p. 566. 
f Ibid., p. 602. 



VALLEY FORGE. 2 0, 

the general plan of operations Tor the season, and rendered 
all further co-operation between him and Burgoyne impossi- 
ble. While employed in discomfiting Howe, he was actively 
engaged in resisting the impending advance of St. Leger and 
Burgoyne. Says Marshall:* "He hastened the march of 
those generals designed to act in that department, pressed 
the Governors of the Eastern States to reinforce the retreating 
army with all their militia, and made large detachments of 
choice troops from his own army. The fame of being himself 
the leader of the victorious army did not, with false glare, daz- 
zle his judgment or conceal the superior public advantage to be 
derived from defeating Burgoyne." 

Having used his best efforts to hasten the concentration of 
troops from the Eastern States, and overcome in some measure 
the shock to public confidence, resulting from the loss of 
Ticonderoga and the disastrous retreat of General St. Clair ; 
strengthened the willing hands of General Schuyler in bringing 
into the field the militia of New York State, rendering the 
victory at Bennington and other minor points possible, and 
witnessed the departure of Lord Howe from New York Bay, 
he turned the head of his devoted columns toward the Dela- 
ware, massing his army at Germantown early in the month of 
August, 1777. 

For days and weeks the work of marshalling new troops, col- 
lecting supplies, and fitting the command to resist the impend- 
ing attack by Howe went on. The Commander-in-Chief was 
in daily consultation with committees of Congress, heads of 
departments, and for the first time met the youthful and heroic 
Lafayette, who was by him assigned to duty on his staff, with 
the rank of major-general. The public mind became feverish 
and excited in anticipation of events now certain to affect the 
gravest interests of the colony. War, with its desolation, its 
bloody horrors, its blighting consequences upon society and 
sacrifice of life, was at the threshold of a community devoted by 
sentiment, religion, and pecuniary interests to peaceful pursuits. 
Evidence of disaffection increased with the certainty of Howe's 
approach, and when his presence, with fleet and army in the 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i. p. 152. 



30 



VALLEY FORGE. 



Chesapeake Bay, was announced, it was deemed politic by the 
Government that Washington should march his army through 
the city as he moved south to meet the advance of the foe. It 
was accordingly done, and the 24th of August, 1777, was a 
memorable day in the history of the Capital City, as well as in 
the lives of the patriotic soldiers, who received at every square 
the most marked consideration at the hands of the populace, 
who were wild in their demonstrations of joy as divisions 
marched by them under commanders who had grown into 
popular favor, resulting from their distinguished services in the 
field. On the other hand, the displeasure of those who, from a 
sense of duty, adhered to the Mother Country was manifest, in 
the frowning faces and silent contempt with which they appa- 
rently treated the unusual events of the day. 

The story of the campaign which was opened by this move- 
ment of the Continental army, to meet and resist the combined 
operations of the enemy, to save the Capital if possible, and to 
preserve the army, though the city should be lost, has always 
possessed a rare interest to Pennsylvanians who participated in 
it, and their descendants, happily shared by their compatriots 
throughout the land. 

Other fields, in other States, before and afterwards, witnessed 
the brighter triumph of our arms, and the more immediate 
results of victories won ; but nowhere on the long and varying 
line of battle were more sanguinary engagements fought, in no 
campaign of the protracted struggle was the suffering of the 
troops so continuous and severe ; at no time was the solicitude 
of the Commander-in-Chief so keenly exercised or the patriotism 
of the people more sorely tried. 

The field of Eastern Pennsylvania presented a tempting prize 
to the British commander at the period referred to. Philadel- 
phia was the seat of the Colonial and Continental Government. 
Its occupation by the enemy, it was thought, would greatly 
dispirit the colonists from Massachusetts to South Carolina. 
Howe's point of attack being selected but fifty-one miles south 
of the city, with no natural barriers to resist the advance of his 
land forces, assuming, not without reason, that Washington's 
army had been weakened by detachments sent to the Northern 
Department, he was confident that with a few days' easy marches, 



VALLEY FORGE. 



31 



and perhaps a battle, the fall of the Capital would follow. Then 
a rapid march across New Jersey, and he would be able to co- 
operate with Burgoyne and St. Leger, and overwhelm Gates in 
New York. 

With these results accomplished, his fleet securely anchored 
in the Delaware, a base of operations for fresh conquest farther 
south would be finally established, and the work of subduing 
the colonists so nearly done as to assure the home government 
of ultimate success and prevent the interposition of those friendly 
offices of France, growing more and more imminent each suc- 
ceeding month. One more consideration entered into the 
plans of the campaign upon the part of the enemy. The settle- 
ment was largely of Englishmen, and it was therefore assumed, 
because of the influential following of Penn and the many 
devotees of the Established Church, that sentiments of loyalty 
to King George would be inspired anew by their presence, 
and terms of accommodation, permanent in character, would 
be suggested and accepted as inevitable. 

BATTLE-FIELDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The scope of this paper forbids the possibility of referring 
in detail to the operations of the Continental army under the 
Commander-in-Chief associated with the successive engage- 
ments fought in defence of Philadelphia, and for its reposses- 
sion. Washington promptly drew his line of battle between the 
approaching enemy and the Capital City. Conscious of the 
overwhelming disparity of numbers, impressed with the impor- 
tance of preventing the concentration of Howe's forces with those 
from which he had recently separated, believing that his disposi- 
tions in the Northern Department were such as would insure 
success, his great work in hand now was to delay the enemy in 
the accomplishment of a purpose which, with the means at 
hand, he might not ultimately defeat. His hostile attitude on 
White Clay Creek and display of resources put Howe upon his 
caution, who, pleading the want of cavalry, which in truth he 
greatly felt, lost days and weeks in feeling his way from the 
place of debarkation. Twenty-three days elapsed before he 
drew the American commander to determined battle on the 



2 o VALLE Y FOR GE. 

Brandywine, and then he was obliged to concede to him the 
choice of position. 

On the I lth of September, 1777, the battle of Brandywine was 
fought. The plan of the engagement, as subsequently revealed, 
the necessities which induced it, the skilfully executed move- 
ment of the enemy upon the right of the patriot army, the ineffi- 
ciency of Washington's mounted troops in not disclosing the 
movement of Cornwallis at an earlier hour in the day, the 
uncertain and embarrassing reports that reached him from 
sources that should have been reliable, the partial surprise, and 
the heroic though ineffectual effort to meet and resist a fierce 
attack from a direction unlooked for, the deeds of valor upon 
the part of officers who sought to retrieve misfortune by per- 
sonal daring, and the usual conduct of battle-shocked troops, 
have gone into history, and been graphically described by Mar- 
shall and Botta, by Lossing and Headley and Bancroft, and 
others, less distinguished in history, it may be, but by no means 
less truthful in narrative. 

The battle was lost, and its discouraging features were keenly 
felt by those who left the field in the possession of the enemy. 
But its effects, as measured by them, were by no means as dis- 
astrous as intended or believed to be. Marshall, referring to 
the immediate results of the engagement, declares "it was not 
considered decisive by Congress, the General, or the army,"* 
and cites the fact that the Government, upon receiving Washing- 
ton's official report, immediately passed vigorous resolutions 
for reinforcing the army, and directed him to complete the 
defences of the Delaware. 

On the 15th, four days after this battle, the army was on the 
march to attack Howe, who, apprised of the movement, imme- 
diately put his army in motion, and the opposing armies met 
between the Goshen Meeting-House and the White Horse 
Tavern, on the table-land south of the Great Valley. The choice 
of position was again with Washington. Hostilities had actu- 
ally commenced, when storm and flood rendered the movement 
of troops impossible, and disclosed the alarming fact that arms 
and ammunition were so seriously damaged that to further 
engage the enemy would be suicidal. 

* Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. i. p. 150. 



VALLEY FORGE. 33 

This exigency decided temporarily the fate of the Capital 
City, and doubtless hastened the period of occupation by the 
British troops. The situation was critical, and the day certainly 
memorable. To retire upon Philadelphia and suffer a partial 
investment, leaving the country open from the Schuylkill to 
the Hudson, making a diversion in favor of Burgoyne not only 
possible but probable, would be unwise for many reasons ; to 
give up all further defence* of the Capital would subject him 
to severe criticism, injuriously affect public affairs in the Mid- 
dle States, in some measure discourage the troops, and increase 
the spirit of disaffection in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It 
was an hour of supreme interest in the struggle, and upon his 
decision hung the most momentous results. Assuming the 
entire responsibility, courting the counsel of his subordinates, 
but acting upon his own mature judgment, he uncovered Phila- 
delphia, detaching General Wayne, and directing him to attack 
the extreme left of the enemy, in the hope of detaining him 
until he could refit his army, and renew the conflict, providen- 
tially postponed. 

Disasters seemed to repeat themselves in quick succession 
during those trying days. General Wayne's enterprise, from 
which further delay was ardently hoped, resulted in his early 
discomfiture, occasioned by the betrayal of his position to the 
enemy by spy or Tory, promptly followed by a night attack, led 
by General Grey, characterized by a fierceness and brutalityf 
which has justly obscured the fame of that officer, and ren- 
dered his name forever odious in the annals of the Revolution. 
The season of anxiety was intensified by this unexpected mis- 
fortune, followed by the removal of the seat of Government, 
the establishment of new lines of communication, new sources 
of supplies, and the " perplexing manoeuvres of Howe," which 
required counter-movements to prevent a farther advance into 
the interior of the State with a view to the destruction of Gov- 
ernment stores at Reading, or in the direction of the Hudson 
River to relieve Burgoyne, who was then beseeching for re- 
inforcements to save him from disaster. 



* See Remonstrance, Pennsylvania Assembly. 

f One Hundredth Anniversary of Paoli Massacre, by J. Smith Futhey, Esq. 

3 



o 4 VALLEY FORGE. 

After a succession of feints by Howe, indicating his eager 
desire for more substantial conquests, he moved from the neigh- 
borhood of these hills, crossing the Schuylkill at Fatland Ford 
on the 22d day of September, and from necessity, rather than 
choice, occupied Philadelphia on the 24th of the same month. 
Light brigades of Continental troops interposed between the 
enemy and the Delaware, and watched his movement in the 
direction of Philadelphia by day and night, while the main 
army under Washington took position on the hills of Perkio- 
men and Skippack. At this place reinforcements reached 
him, and his army, decimated by the untoward events of the 
campaign, was reported eight thousand Continental troops and 
three thousand militia present and effective for duty. With 
this force at command he determined upon further operations 
against the enemy, whose situation, as disclosed to him by 
information deemed reliable, invited rather than repelled attack. 

The plan of the battle of Germantown was formed while 
encamped upon the Perkiomen hills ; from them, on the night 
of October 3, the advance was made, and after it was fought 
and lost, on the day following (October 4), to the same hills 
the army returned, defeated, it is true, with considerable loss in 
killed, wounded, and captured, but with its organization unim- 
paired and its devotion to the cause still unbroken. 

Mr. Bancroft, in writing of this battle, says:* " In the official 
report of this engagement the Commander-in-Chief stated with 
exactness the tardy arrival of Greene, and adds, had the forces 
intrusted to that officer, and the militia under Armstrong, acted 
as efficiently as the troops with Washington, the morning 
might have been fatal to Howe's army. The renewal of the 
attack so soon after the defeat at Brandywine, and its partial 
success, inspirited Congress and the army. In Europe it con- 
vinced Frederick of Prussia and the Cabinet of France that 
the independence of America was assured." 

Information of the success of General Gates in the Northern 
Department reached the Commander-in-Chief on the 18th of 
October, — one day after the surrender. The event was promptly 
made known to the army, and received by soldiers and citizens 

* Vol. vi. p. 19. 



VALLEY FORGE. ^e 

with manifestations of joy. Immediately the Continental troops 
under General Glover and Morgan's corps of riflemen were 
recalled from the Department of the North. Delay followed, 
with evident disinclination upon the part of General Gates to 
promptly obey the order of the Commander-in-Chief, and not 
until Colonel Hamilton was despatched in person to renew the 
demand was the summons obeyed. 

Pending the movement of reinforcements from the North, 
the public mind having recovered from the first effects of the 
reverses at Brandywine, Paoli, and Germantown, perhaps un- 
duly elated by the surrender of Burgoyne and its sequences, 
clamored for further aggressive movements against Howe. 
Partly in deference to this feeling, and to quiet the unfriendly 
criticism inspired by the disingenuous spirit subsequently, and 
more notoriously connected with the developments of the Con- 
way Cabal, Washington moved his army to the east, taking a 
strong position at Whitemarsh, from which he was able to 
watch the movements of the enemy, harass his outposts, cut 
off his source of supplies, give protection to the agricultural 
people and confidence to the public mind. Here, after an in- 
effectual attempt on the part of the enemy to dislodge him, on 
the 5th and 6th of December the campaign closed, Howe re- 
tiring within his lines of defence, reaching from the Delaware to 
the Schuylkill River. The war-worn and jaded condition of the 
patriot troops, the want of supplies, the hopelessness of further 
operations to repossess Philadelphia, and the approach of winter, 
all admonished the Commander to seek shelter and repose for 
his army. 

The proposition to retire the army for the winter gave rise 
to well-marked differences of opinion. Within army circles the 
only question was that of location. Whether it should fortify 
and remain where it was, or retire to the Perkiomen hills, or 
move south and occupy the vicinity of Wilmington, was can- 
vassed by leading officers in the army, and whose opinions 
were sought by the Commander-in-Chief. In political circles 
and among a large and influential class of patriotic citizens of 
Pennsylvania a different view prevailed. In their opinion the 
exigency of the public service demanded a continuation of 
active operations upon the part of this army. Their hostility 



3 6 VALLEY FORGE. 

to the proposed cantonment of troops culminated in a remon- 
strance prepared by the General Assembly, and by that body 
presented to Congress, then in session at York. We recite the 
remonstrance here in order to illustrate the wisdom and force 
of character of the great and good man who, in serving the 
higher interests of his country, disregarded the remonstrance 
of those whose sensibilities were shocked by the calamities of 
war, and who, for a temporary respite from its ravages, would 
have sacrificed the army of hope by denying it that well-earned 
repose, absolutely necessary at that season and period to pre- 
serve its existence. 

REMONSTRANCE OF COUNCIL AND ASSEMBLY TO CONGRESS, 1 777.* 

" At a conference with the Supreme Executive Council and 
General Assembly of this State, held in the Assembly Room, 
Resolved, that a remonstrance be immediately drawn up and 
forwarded to Congress against the proposed cantonment of the 
army of the United States under command of His Excellency 
General Washington, and that the following reasons be urged : 

" 1st. That by the army's removal to the west side of the 
Schuylkill as far as Wilmington and its neighborhood a great 
part of this State, particularly that on the east side, together 
with the State of New Jersey, must be left in the power of the 
enemy subject to their ravages ; the inhabitants be obliged either 
to fly to the neighboring States or submit to such terms as the 
enemy may prescribe. 

" 2d. That the State Assembly at their last session had laid 
a tax of five shillings on the pound on all estates, real and per- 
sonal, in order to call in and sink the moneys issued by this 
Government, and at this session had Resolved over and above 
said tax to raise the sum of sixty-two thousand dollars for sup- 
port of war for the ensuing year. Agreeably to resolve of 
Congress both which taxes must infallibly fail, provided the 
army go into cantonment at such distance as will prevent their 
covering the country from the depredations of the enemy, it 
being a melancholy truth that too many of our people are so 
disaffected already that nothing but the neighborhood of the 



* Pennsylvania Archives, vol. vi., 1 777-1 778, p. 279. 



VALLEY FORGE. 



37 



army keeps them subject to Government, whilst the Whigs and 
those who have taken the most active part in support of our 
cause will be discouraged and give up all as lost. 

" 3d. By removal of our army it will be impossible to recruit 
the regiments of this State, as those who would be active and 
zealous in promoting that measure will be obliged to leave the 
State, whilst the Tories and disaffected will gain strength, and 
in many places, perhaps, declare openly for the enemy, by 
which means there will be a probability of their not only sup- 
plying their exhausted magazines but greatly strengthening 
their army. 

"4th. The army removing at a distance from the enemy must 
give a fatal stab to the credit of the Continental currency 
throughout this State. It is a melancholy truth that it is very 
difficult to purchase from many of our most able farmers the 
necessary provisions of our army, owing to their fear of the 
money ; but this difficulty must be greatly increased when 
another market, without interruption, will open to them where 
they will receive at least a promise of hard money."* 

On the 1 ith of December the camp was broken up at White- 
marsh, and after a painful march over rough and frozen roads, 
reached the Gulf Hills, crossing the Schuylkill River at Swedes' 

* " To this remonstrance Washington replied on the 23d of December, 1777. 
After laying blame upon General Mifflin for neglect of duty as Quartermaster. 
General, he says : * For want of a two days' supply of provisions, an opportunity 
scarcely ever offered of taking an advantage of the enemy that has not been either 
totally obstructed or greatly impeded. Men are confined to hospitals or in farmers' 
houses for want of shoes. 

" ' We have this day no less than two thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight 
men in camp unfit for duty, because they are barefoot and otherwise naked. Our 
whole strength in Continental troops amounts to no more than eight thousand two 
hundred in camp fit for duty. Since the fourth inst., our numbers fit for duty, from 
hardship and exposure, have decreased nearly two thousand men. Gentlemen 
reprobate the going into winter-quarters as much as if the soldiers were made of 
sticks and stones. 

" ' I can assure those gentlemen that it is a much easier and less distressing thing 
to draw remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fireside than to occupy a cold, 
bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow without clothes or blankets. However, 
although they seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed soldiers, I 
feel superabundantly for them, and from my soul I pity those miseries which it is 
neither in my power to relieve or prevent.' " — Bancroft, vol. vi. p. 41. 



3 g VALLEY FORGE. 

and Matson's Ford on improvised bridges. Here the advance 
division under General Potter, which moved south of Matson's 
Ford to cover the passage of the main army, unexpectedly 
came in contact with a strong detachment of the enemy under 
Cornwallis, out upon a foraging expedition. The presence of 
the enemy in this quarter, and in such force, was a surprise at 
the time, and occasioned delay, the counter-movement of troops, 
and some apprehension upon the part of the Commander-in- 
Chief, which subsequently proved to be without cause. 

A camp was established for some days on the Gulf Hills, four- 
teen miles distant from Philadelphia, where the army remained 
until the 18th, when it retired to Valley Forge, going into posi- 
tion with the right resting upon the base of Mount Joy, near the 
acute angle of the Valley Creek, the left flank resting upon 
and protected by the Schuylkill River, about one-half mile 
below Fatland Ford or Sullivan's bridge. 

VALLEY FORGE. 

The characteristic event of the day and hour, which witnessed 
the occupation of these hills by the Continental army, presents 
the immortal Washington, as conspicuously devoted to the 
claims of humanity as he was to the more imperative demands 
of country. 

Historians have uniformly signalized the arrival of the army 
on this ground as coincident with the famous order of the 
Commander-in-Chief, dated " Headquarters on the Schuylkill, 
Dec. 17, 1777," congratulating his troops upon the close of the 
campaign, the results accomplished, the heroic conduct of officers 
and the endurance of men, counselling them to continue in for- 
titude and patience, assuring his followers " that while in some 
instances he had unfortunately failed, that, upon the whole, 
heaven had smiled upon their army and crowned them with 
success ;that the end of their warfare was Independence, Liberty, 
and Peace, and that the hope of securing these blessings for 
themselves and their posterity demanded a continuance of the 
struggle at every hazard." 

This was the pleasing side of the picture, set in the gilded 
framework of war's seducing blandishments and panoplied with 
its field-day glories. But there was another, — the shoeless sol- 



VALLEY FORGE. 



39 



diers, the frozen ground, the cheerless hills, the lowering leaden 
sky that arched them over with gloom. These were the sor- 
rowing and mute witnesses to the true scene of the arrival, and 
which the artist has thus far failed to place upon canvas. We 
are not, however, wanting of the pen picture. I give it in the 
language of Mr. George Washington Parke Custis. 

The brigades had gone into position upon the line of defence 
indicated by the skilful officer who drew it. The pitiless winter 
winds swept the hills and valley with unceasing fury, as the De- 
cember sun sank into banks of snow-clouds, presaging the coming 
storm. The poverty of supplies in food and raiment was bitterly 
and profanely bewailed by shivering unpaid officers and half- 
naked men as they crowded around the comfortless camp-fire 
of the bivouac, when suddenly the appearance of the Horse 
Guard announced the approach of the Commander-in-Chief. 
" The officer commanding the detachment, choosing the most 
favorable ground, paraded his men to pay their General the 
honors of a passing salute. As Washington rode slowly up, 
he was observed to be eying very earnestly something that 
attracted his attention on the frozen surface of the road. Hav- 
ing returned the salute with that native grace and dignified 
manner that won the admiration of the soldiers of the Revolu- 
tion, the Chief reined in his charger, and ordering the com- 
manding officer of the detachment to his side, addressed him 
as follows : ' How comes it, sir, that I have tracked the march 
of your troops by the blood-stains of their feet upon the frozen 
ground ? Were there no shoes in the commissary's stores that 
this sad spectacle is to be seen along the public highway ?' The 
officer replied : ' Your Excellency may rest assured that this 
sight is as painful to my feelings as it can be to yours, but there 
is no remedy within our reach. When shoes were issued the 
different regiments were served in turn ; it was our misfortune 
to be among the last to be served, and the stores became ex- 
hausted before we could obtain even the smallest supply.' 

" The General was observed to be deeply affected by his 
officer's description of the soldiers' privations and sufferings. 
His compressed lips, the heaving of his manly chest betokened 
the powerful emotions that were struggling in his bosom, when, 
turning towards the troops, with a voice tremulous, yet kindly, 



40 



VALLEY FORGE. 



he exclaimed, ' poor fellows !' Then giving rein to his horse 
he rode rapidly away." 

The purpose of the Commander-in-Chief in taking position 
at Valley Forge was to give the greatest measure of protection 
possible to the State, and to circumscribe the operations of 
General Howe within limits that would seriously affect his 
source of supply. To this end his line was admirably drawn. 
On the west side of the Schuylkill he extended his right flank 
to Wilmington, at which point he stationed General Smallwood 
with his brigade of infantry, covering the long interval with 
Morgan's rifle corps and the squadron of cavalry under Major 
Harry Lee. 

On the east of the river, he occupied the country as far as 
Whitemarsh, placing General Armstrong with a brigade of 
Pennsylvania militia, so as to cover the principal roads con- 
verging at that point; the cavalry under Major Jameson and 
Captain McClane* guarded the highways in the direction of 
Barren and Chestnut Hills ; and to still further prevent incur- 
sions of the enemy northward from Philadelphia, he directed 
General Pulaski, who was in command of the brigade of cavalry, 
to go into camp at Trenton, New Jersey. 

The line of defence from the west shore of the Schuylkill 
River to the base of Mount Joy, at the angle of Valley Creek, 
occupied commanding ground, and the earthworks and fortifi- 
cations erected under the direction of General Duportail, were 
extensive in character and skilfully constructed. The interior 
line of works and abatis were semicircular in form, crossing 
from north to south, with one star and two square forts, from 
which the army could have successfully covered a retreat west- 
ward, had such a movement become necessary. The interior 
lines, with the remains of the two square forts, are still discern- 
ible, and constitute the only landmarks which the crumbling 
hand of time has left to guide the pilgrim over these hills. 
Fortunately for the living of to-day, who have joined us in 
these commemorative services, and thousands of our country- 
men, who, though absent, have manifested great interest in the 
occasion, we are not without reliable data by which we may 



Lossing's Field-Book, vol. ii. p. 105; D.iy's Historical Collections, p. 501. 



VALLEY FORGE. 4I 

indicate with accuracy the position of the fourteen brigades of 
Continental troops encamped within the fortified lines, repre- 
senting a maximum of seventeen thousand men, but reduced 
by sickness and the paucity of supplies to the pitiable number 
of five thousand and twelve effectives. 

The extreme right of the line, commanding the approaches 
from the southwest, was held by Brigadier-General Charles 
Scott, of Virginia, upon whose left Brigadier-General Anthony 
Wayne, commanding the Pennsylvania line, was placed ; then 
in succession from right to left came the brigades of General 
Enoch Poor, of Massachusetts, General John Glover, of Massa- 
chusetts, General Ebenezer Larned, General John Patterson, of 
Massachusetts, General George Weedon, of Virginia, who con- 
nected with General Peter Muhlenberg, of Pennsylvania, hold- 
ing the extreme left of the line, resting on the Schuylkill at a 
point near where the village of Port Kennedy is now located. 

The second or supporting line of -troops were encamped 
immediately in front of the interior line of earthworks, still 
discernible. Brigadier-General William Woodford, of Virginia, 
held the right, covering the corps of Major-General Henry 
Knox's artillery, located a short distance to his left and rear ; 
to the left of Woodford, successively, the brigades of General 
William Maxwell, of New Jersey, General Thomas Conway, of 
Irish birth, General Jedediah Huntington, of Connecticut, con- 
necting with the brigade of General James Varnum, of Massa- 
chusetts ; on the extreme left, covering the bridge over the 
Schuylkill River, built by General Sullivan, Brigadier-General 
Lochlan Mcintosh, of Scottish birth, a Georgian by adoption, 
with the remaining brigade, was encamped in the rear of the 
second line of intrenchments, a short distance east of the Potts 
Mansion, occupied by the Commander-in-Chief; near by and 
to the left of Mcintosh, Washington's body-guard, commanded 
by Major Gibbs, of Rhode Island, was encamped ; still farther 
to the west, and on the opposite side of the Valley Creek, the 
artificers of the army were quartered in huts, with large log 
buildings for workshops. 

The bake-house, used for the double purpose of furnishing 
food for the army and as a place for holding courts-martial, 
was located within a few yards of these workshops. By the 



42 VALLEY FORGE. 

20th of December the army was in position as indicated, and 
the order to construct huts for the winter was issued. Its exe- 
cution followed with despatch and great exactness. Soldiers 
became axemen from necessity; before them the forest fell, and 
hundreds of log houses grew as by magic. The dimensions of 
each hut was fourteen by sixteen feet, with chimney, fireplace, 
and door, facing upon company streets, drawn in strict con- 
formity with the rules of military encampments. Quarters for 
field and staff officers were erected in rear of the line of troops, 
while still farther to the rear, upon the sloping hills, shelter was 
sought for the trains of the army. History and tradition alike 
confirm the fact that the hills were made bare of timber in com- 
pleting the shelter necessary for men and animals, and the wood 
necessary for fuel during the long winter was hauled by men a 
distance of one and more miles from the camp. 

Major-Generals Lafayette, DeKalb, and Sterling established 
their headquarters for the winter with the army, and were alter- 
nately assigned to important field and detached duty during the 
winter. Major-General Charles Lee, at the time a prisoner of 
war, was subsequently exchanged for General Prescott, and 
returned to this camp, together with Major-General Thomas 
Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, who had also been absent some 
months. 

The following staff officers established their headquarters 
near the Potts Mansion: Major-General Nathaniel Greene, of 
Rhode Island, Quartermaster-General of the army, Major-Gen- 
eral Baron Steuben, Inspector-General, Brigadier-General Du- 
portail, Chief Engineer, Colonel Timothy Pickering, Adjutant- 
General, and Colonel Alexander Hamilton, Aide-de-Camp. 
Time and space forbid what would otherwise be a pleasing 
task of calling from the long roll of honor the names of subor- 
dinate officers, who were conspicuously associated with those 
near the person of the Commander-in-Chief, and supported him 
in his trials and embarrassments while in occupation of Valley 
Forge. Long before the works for defence were completed, or 
the huts that were to shelter the army were finished, the bitter cry 
of hunger, from thousands of brave and heroic men, reached 
the ears and heart of Washington. He appealed in vain to the 
Government for supplies. The hasty removal of Congress from 



VALLEY FORGE. 



43 



Philadelphia to Lancaster, thence to York, had its disorgan- 
izing effects upon all the departments ; especially upon those of 
the Quartermaster and Commissary. The limited provisions 
made to meet the wants of the army, greatly increased by the 
losses inseparable from the defeats and retreats experienced, 
were with difficulty placed within reach of the Commander, 
whose transportation had been reduced to the minimum from 
necessity, whose trains had been enfeebled by overwork, irreg- 
ular food, and that want of care for which the Quartermaster's 
Department had become noted. To overcome in some measure 
the pressing necessity which threatened the dissolution of his 
army, as early as the 20th of December, 1777, he issued the 
following order : " By virtue of the power and direction espe- 
cially given, I hereby enjoin and require all persons residing 
within seventy miles of my headquarters to thresh one-half of 
their grain by the first day of March next ensuing, on pain, in 
case of failure, of having all that shall remain in sheaves, after 
the period above mentioned, seized by the Commissaries and 
Quartermasters of the army, and paid for as straw."* In the 
absence of blankets, the want of straw as well as grain was 
sorely felt by the army ; farmers in the immediate vicinity had 
suffered great loss by the presence of both armies in their 
midst. If the patriot army were considerate of those known to 
be friendly to their cause and merciless upon the " Tory," the 
British, who closely followed them, laid a heavy hand upon 
the supplies of the " Rebel," and between the two the farmers 
from the Brandywine to the Delaware found an involuntary 
market. Under these circumstances, it was not surprising that 
those who had stowed away the grain and hay that was relied 
upon to keep body and soul together for another year, were 
tardy in threshing it out. The Commander-in-Chief compre- 
hended the situation, and the order issued went direct to the 
vital point ; it suggested an alternative which brought flails to 

* " In a letter to Congress touching this order, Washington says, ' I regret the 
necessity which compelled us to issue this order, and I shall consider it among 
the greatest of our misfortunes to be under the necessity of practising it again. I 
am now obliged to keep several parties from the army threshing grain, that our 
supplies may not fail us; but this will not do.' " — MarshalPs Washington, vol. i. 
p. 216. 



44 



VALLEY FORGE. 



the front, barn-doors were opened, the golden sheaves were 
brought in from well-preserved stacks, in many instances by 
the soldiers themselves, who were glad to exchange the rigors 
of a starving camp for the toil of the threshing-floor, which 
exchange yielded bread for themselves and compatriots by day, 
and afforded the hope of merriment amidst the cheerful homes 
of patriot mothers and daughters by night. Tradition says, 
that throughout the length and breadth of" Washington's sev- 
enty miles" could be heard from morn till night two or three 
threshers on every barn-floor. Straw was soon in the market, 
soft as flails could make it, and contributed greatly to the com- 
fort of the men at Valley Forge, and hundreds and thousands 
of others sick and wounded, who filled every church and meet- 
ing-house from Barren Hill to the "Swamp," and from "Bir- 
mingham" to Reading. 

"At no period of the war," writes Chief-Justice Marshall, "had 
the American army been reduced to a situation of greater peril 
than during the winter at Valley Forge More than once they 
were absolutely without food. Even while their condition was 
less desperate in this respect, their stock of provisions were so 
scanty that there was seldom at any time in the stores a quan- 
tity sufficient for the use of the troops for a week. The returns 
of the first of February exhibit the astonishing number of three 
thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine men in camp unfit for 
duty for want of clothes. Of this number scarcely a man had 
a pair of shoes. Although the total of the army exceeded 
seventeen thousand men, the present effective rank and file 
amounted to only five thousand and twelve. The returns 
throughout the winter did not effectually vary from that which 
has been particularly stated." 

The situation of the camp was so eminently critical on the 
14th of February, that General Varnum wrote to General Greene 
" that in all human probability the army must dissolve." On 
the 16th of the same month, Washington wrote to Governor 
Clinton : " For some days past there has been little less than a 
famine in camp. A part of the army has been a week without 
any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked and 
starved as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable 
patience and fidelity of the soldiery that they have not been 



VALLEY FORGE. 



45 



ere this excited by their sufferings to general mutiny and 
desertion." 

Dr. Thatcher in his private journal states: "That it was with 
the greatest difficulty that men enough could be found in a fit 
condition to discharge the military camp duties from day to 
day, and for this purpose, those who were naked borrowed of 
those who were more fortunate in having covering for their 
bodies and shoes for their feet." Yet amidst the sufferings and 
privations endured by these devoted troops week after week 
and month after month, pelted by the storms of one of the 
severest winters ever known in this region, the love of country, 
the hope of victory, and an abiding confidence in their great 
leader sustained them until in the Providence of God the cause 
found an ally, whose offices of friendship, long and ardently 
hoped for by the chivalrous Lafayette, was finally assured by 
the diplomacy of our own glorious Franklin. 

Captain Peter S. Duponceau, aide-de-camp on the staff of 
Baron Steuben, in a speech at Valley Forge on the 26th day 
of July, 1828, at a " Harvest Home," held in commemoration 
of the trials, and sufferings, and sacrifices of the Continental 
army, thus speaks of the period and situation : "At that time no 
nation in Europe had acknowledged our independence except 
a few insufficient succors secretly sent to us from France. We 
were left entirely to our own resources, which were, alas ! all 
centred in the courage of our rulers and our brave soldiers. 
Despondency reigned everywhere except in the hearts of those 
who watched and suffered for our safety. I cannot well repre- 
sent to you with what fortitude, resignation, and patience these 
trials were borne by the soldiers of the Revolution. They never 
broke into loud murmurs, much less into mutiny or disobedi- 
ence. I have seen them when pressed by hunger sometimes 
pop their heads out of their poor huts, and call out in an under- 
tone, ' No bread, no soldier;' but a single kind word from an 
officer would still their complaints, and they were willing to 
brave everything for the sake of Liberty and their Country." 

Passing from the gloom of the command we are met with 
the perils of the Commander. The surrender of Burgoyne on 
the Hudson, due primarily to the comprehensive direction of 
Washington, successfully carried into execution by Major- 



4 6 



VALLEY FORGE. 



General Philip Schuyler, who, in an evil hour, was superseded 
by Major-General Horatio Gates, giving to the latter officer 
easy honors, and bringing to his standard the disaffected spirits 
of the army, as it did the impatient and fawning politicians of 
the period. 

The victory of Gates at Saratoga was the inevitable result of 
conditions precedent to his assuming command in that depart- 
ment, a fact well understood by his contemporaries at the time ; 
and it would seem that a proper respect for the proprieties of 
his profession, a due regard for the troops who served him, and 
the superior officers in merit and rank who made his triumph a 
possibility, should have induced subsequent conduct upon his 
part consistent with the highest interest of his country. But it 
was not so. Assuming honors he never merited, and powers 
never conferred upon him, he covertly sought to destroy per- 
sonal attachments and inspire public distrust in his Commander- 
in-Chief. 

Generals Conway and Mifflin, with others of less importance, 
served his base purpose only too well, and for a time the cabal 
worked unseen mischief in the attempted alienation of friends 
and disorganization of the army, which ultimately recoiled upon 
those most conspicuously connected with the movement, leaving 
the character of him they thought to asperse brighter, and purer, 
and nobler than ever before. 

When apprised of the intrigues of faction by his personal 
friend, Mr. Laurens, then President of Congress, he replied 
with a frankness which, while it disclosed a wounded spirit, 
breathed in every line and sentence his unqualified attachment 
to the cause, and his unselfish love of country. He writes to 
his friend : "As I have no other view than to promote the pub- 
lic good, and am unambitious of honors not founded in the 
approbation of my country, I would not desire in the least 
degree to suppress a free spirit of inquiry into any part of my 
conduct that even faction itself may deem reprehensible. The 
anonymous paper handed you exhibits many serious charges, 
and it is my wish that it may be submitted to Congress. This 
I am the more inclined to, as the suppression or concealment 
may possibly involve you in embarrassments hereafter, since it 
is uncertain how many or who may be privy to the contest. 



VALLEY FORGE. 



47 



My enemies take an ungenerous advantage. They know the 
delicacy of my situation, and that motives of policy deprive me 
of the defence I might otherwise make against their insidious 
attacks. They know I cannot combat their insinuations, how- 
ever injurious, without disclosing secrets it is of the utmost 
moment to conceal. But why should I expect to be free from 
censure, the unfailing lot of an elevated station ? Merit and 
talents which I cannot pretend to rival have ever been subject 
to it. My heart tells me that it has been my unremitted aim 
to do the best which circumstances would permit. Yet I may 
have been very often mistaken in my judgment of the means, 
and may in many instances deserve the imputation of error." 

The secret intrigues within army circles, the violent criticism 
of partisans in the civil service, the protest of Pennsylvanians 
against the cantonment of the army, the hasty appointment of 
a new Board of War, consisting first of Major-General Thomas 
Mifflin, Colonel Timothy Pickering, and Colonel Robert H. 
Harrison; enlarged on the 17th of November, 1777, by the 
addition, of Mr. Francis Dana and J. B. Smith, and again on 
the 27th of the same month by the further appointment of 
General Gates, Joseph Trumbull, and Richard Peters, Gates 
being chosen chairman, and as thus constituted, evidently in 
sympathy with the cabal, these circumstances promptly induced 
a correspondence by Washington with Congress, which resulted 
in the appointment of a committee from that body,* consisting 
of Mr. Francis Dana, General Joseph Reed, Nathan Folsom, 
Charles Carroll, and Gouverneur Morris, to visit the camp at 
Valley Forge, and who, if not in perfect accord with the con- 
dition of public affairs resulting from the campaign in Pennsyl- 
vania, were at least willing to hear an impartial statement of 
facts as presented by the Commander-in-Chief and those who 
surrounded him, and report back to Congress such suggestions 
for the future conduct of the army as would insure its preser- 
vation for the winter, and probable success in the proposed 
operations for the ensuing year, now rendered doubly promising 
by the friendly offices and assurances of France. 

This committee remained in camp for several weeks, and 

* Journal of Congress, 1778-79, vol. ix. pp. 21-29. 



48 VALLEY FORGE. 

finally drafted a report embodying suggestions generally 
accredited to the foresight, sagacity, and wisdom of Washing- 
ton. Their labor was productive of the best results. They 
restored whatever want of confidence had been felt in the 
public mind, and hastened the work of preparation for the 
future, by conceding to the Commander-in-Chief the exercise 
of those powers originally contemplated by the terms of his 
commission. 

Major-General Nathaniel Greene was, at the urgent request 
of Washington, appointed Quartermaster-General of the Con- 
tinental army, a position which he accepted with great reluc- 
tance, but to which office he brought a degree of energy and 
judgment that speedily brought order out of chaos, and sub- 
stituted plenty in the place of poverty. Under his supervising 
care supplies were organized by contract and purchase wherever 
possible, and by methodical impressment when and wherever 
the more preferable mode was impossible or impracticable. 

Having the department of supplies now under the direction 
of an officer in accord with his plans and purposes (although 
he was not committed to certain details insisted upon by its 
chief), Washington turned his attention to filling the place left 
unoccupied by the apostasy of Conway as worthily as he had 
filled that made vacant by the resignation of Mifflin. Happily 
the choice of men for the position of Inspector-General of the 
army fell upon Baron Steuben, a Prussian officer of great dis- 
tinction, having served seven years in the army and on the staff 
of Frederick the Great. He was then in his forty-seventh year, 
and had adopted America for his country. He came highly 
recommended by Franklin, then at Paris, and many distin- 
guished officers in the French and Prussian armies, especially 
as a disciplinarian. He reached Washington's Headquarters 
on the 5th of February, 1778, and was promptly assigned to 
the Inspector- General's Department. 

None but those who have attained proficiency in the science 
of war by academical training and long experience can fully 
appreciate the importance of discipline in an army, or measure 
the loss resulting in a hundred ways from the want of it, as 
seen in the improvidence which it begets, the insubordination 
which it inspires, and the tardiness in men and officers, which 



VALLEY FORGE. 



49 



always endangers and often defeats the best-laid plans of the 
commander. 

Great was the astonishment of Steuben upon his arrival. 
Having united his destiny with the struggling Patriots, viewing' 
the field of strife through eyes accustomed to the trained and 
well-supplied armies of Europe, always near the person and 
headquarters of his sovereign, brightened by the display of 
royal splendor, he keenly felt the unpleasing contrast as seen 
at Valley Forge. " He found our cities in the possession of a 
powerful foe, and when he came to look for the troops to retake 
them, he saw only a few thousand famished, half-naked men, 
looking more like beggars than soldiers, cooped up in miser- 
able log huts, dragging out a dreary winter amid snow and 
storm." His first tour of inspection disclosed to his practised 
eye the impoverished condition of the camp, the want of dis- 
cipline in officers and men, the vice of gambling, the frequency 
of petty theft, want of cleanliness of person, and its sure con- 
comitant, pestilential disease, — the itch was only more common 
in the camp than the presence of vermin among the rank and 
file. So terrible was the poverty of necessary supplies, as late 
as January 12,* that the Commander-in-Chief issued an order 
to his Brigade Commanders to collect tallow and ashes with 
which to make soft-soap for the use of the men in camp. Well 
might the amazed Steuben declare " that no European army 
could be kept together under such suffering." Nothing daunted, 
however, and with all the sympathies of his noble nature aroused 
in our behalf, he commenced as soon as the season would permit 
to instruct both officers and men. It was his practice to rise 
at three o'clock in the morning, dress his hair, smoke, take his 
cup of coffee, and at sunrise be in the saddle, and if the weather 
permitted would have his men marching to the field for morn- 
ing drill. 

He organized one company, which he drilled in person to 
the highest point of efficiency in the use of the arms then re- 
lied upon in the infantry branch of the service, subsequently 
using them as a model or example by which to instruct regi- 

* Brigade Order, Valley Forge, January 12, 1778. Order Book, Pennsylvania 
Historical Society Rooms. 

4 



c VALLEY FORGE. 

ments and brigades. We regret that history does not furnish 
us with the letter, name, or some means of identifying the 
company thus selected, the example of which was so effectual 
in promoting the efficiency of their comrades. Honorable 
mention is frequently made of the distinguished service of Baron 
Steuben in this regard, and for which he was, on May 5, 1778, 
commissioned Major-General. But alas ! for the brave men 
who answered his imperative roll-call upon these hills at each 
morning sun, who generously sunk their individuality and 
became automatons to exemplify the first great duty of the 
soldier, — i.e., to obey. 

Truer fame was never won on tented field by more heroic 
men, and though they be nameless on our history's page, no 
greater victory emblazoned the banners of the patriot army 
than that which this company achieved in the discipline of 
themselves, and by their example the discipline of the army at 
Valley Forge. Unknown though this company be, and name- 
less its roll of heroes, honor and gratitude alike demand that 
they should share the credit bestowed upon their zealous com- 
mander by a country, whose historians declare the result of 
this primary school of discipline was seen in the ensuing cam- 
paign at the battle of Monmouth, where " Washington rallied 
his men when in full retreat, and brought them into action 
under the very blaze of the enemy's guns. They wheeled like 
veteran troops in their places, and then moved steadily on the 
foe." 

The department of the Inspector-General now received the 
attention its vast importance deserved, and discipline, before 
irregular, or practised only under particular leaders, was intro- 
duced into and imposed as a duty upon every command and in 
every department. All the arrangements to carry into effect 
the plans of the Commander-in-Chief were heartily seconded 
and perfected by this accomplished master of details, and as the 
legitimate sequence, the intricate machinery of the army began 
to move in order and in the direction of success. 

With the explosion of the Conway Cabal, the restoration of 
public confidence by the patriotic officers of the Committee of 
Congress, the induction of Greene into the department of sup- 
plies, the assignment of Steuben to the task of organizing and 



VALLEY FORGE. 



51 



disciplining the army, a burden was lifted from the shoulders 
of Washington, who, as he calmly surveyed the future, sup- 
ported by the presence and fidelity of Knox and Sterling, of 
Hamilton and Pickering and Lafayette, felt that the crisis in 
His life and country had been reached and passed, and the mid- 
night gloom of the Revolution was broken. 

As repulse had followed repulse in rapid succession in the 
preceding months, at Brandywine, Paoli, and Germantown, 
giving rise to detraction, crimination, infidelity, divided and 
dissenting counsels, so now in the lengthening days and genial 
suns of coming spring, he felt the assuring circumstance of re- 
turning confidence, found new and better men to fill the places 
of those who had been tried and found weak, vacillating, and 
faithless, and above all, and greater than all these agencies of 
human life, he saw in the impending providences of Almighty 
God, in whom he reposed an abiding trust, a hastening ally in 
France, the assurance of whose friendship and co-operation in 
means and men, by land and sea, removed the last doubt in his 
mind of achieving " Independence, Liberty, and Peace." Coming 
and portentous events cast their long and succoring shadows 
before, and although no electric wire flashed the glad news 
of Franklin's success at the Court of Louis XVI. in concluding 
a "treaty of amity and commerce" on the 6th of February, 
1778, and also a defensive treaty of alliance, in which the two 
parties mutually engaged not to lay down their arms until "the 
Independence of the United States should be assured by the 
treaties terminating the war;" yet the constancy of Lafayette, 
his influence with and assurances from his sovereign, made him 
a daily monitor at the side of the great Commander, and pre- 
pared him for the reception of the official announcement which 
reached Valley Forge on the first day of May, 1778. His 
official order, issued May 7, announcing the event, and pre- 
paring his camp to celebrate the occasion, beautifully and feel- 
ingly expresses the sense of gratefulness universally felt by 
army and people, and, as we may believe, was inspired by the 
fervent prayers he uttered on bended knees in his season of joy 
upon these hills.* 

* The following account of Washington's prayer at Valley Forge was copied 
from a paper in the handwriting of Ruth Amy Potts, daughter of Isaac Potts, who 



52 VALLEY FORGE. 

" Oh ! who shall know the might 
Of the words he uttered there ? 
The fate of nations there was turn'd 
By the fervor of his prayer." 

" It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe to 
defend the cause of the United States, and finally raise up a 
powerful friend among the princes of the earth to establish our 
Liberty and Independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes 
us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the Divine 
interposition. The several brigades are to assemble for this 
purpose at nine o'clock to-morrow, when their chaplains will 
communicate the information contained in the postscript of the 
Pennsylvania Gazette of the 2d inst, and offer up a thanksgiving 
and deliver a discourse suitable to the event." 

The day was signalized as one of National deliverance. 
Devotional exercises were followed by patriotic addresses, 
National salutes were fired, and upon a given signal the whole 
army joined in a grand huzza, Long Live the King of France! 
Long Live the Friendly Powers of Europe and the 
American States ! 

The Commander-in-Chief and staff were the guests of the 
New Jersey troops during the religious services of the day, 

died in 1811. See Potts's Manual, by Mrs. F. P. James, member of the Penn- 
sylvania Historical Society : " While the American army lay at Valley Forge, a 
good old Quaker by the name of Potts had occasion to pass through a thick wood 
near the headquarters. As he traversed the dark, brown forest he heard a voice, 
which, as he advanced, became more fervid and interesting. Approaching with 
slowness and circumspection, whom should he behold in a dark bower, apparently 
formed for the purpose, but the Commander-in-Chief of the United Colonies on his 
knees, in the act of devotion, to the Ruler of the universe. At the moment when 
friend Potts, concealed by the trees, came up, Washington was interceding for his 
beloved country. With tones of gratitude that labored for adequate expression, 
he adored that exuberance of goodness which, from the depths of obscurity, had 
exalted him to the head of a great nation, and that nation figuring at fearful odds 
for all the world holds dear. . . . 

" As soon as the General had finished his devotions and retired, friend Potts re- 
turned to his house and threw himself in a chair beside his wife. ' Heigh, Isaac,' 
said she, with tenderness, 'what is the matter?' 'Indeed,' quoth he, 'if I 
appear agitated, 'tis no more than what I am. I have seen this day what I shall 
never forget. Till now, I have thought that a Christian and a soldier were char- 
acters incompatible, but if George Washington be not a man of God, I am mis- 
taken ; and still more shall I be disappointed if God, through him, do not perform 
some great thing for this country.' " 



VALLEY FORGE. 



S3 



after which the general officers of the command joined him at 
the Potts Mansion, whereat was served in true Continental 
style one of those famous dinners for which Washington always 
manifested a fondness. 

To crown the day with universal rejoicing, before the hour 
of dining he issued the following order, and directed its imme- 
diate execution : " The Commander-in-Chief, in this season of 
general joy, takes occasion to proclaim pardon and release to 
all persons now in confinement, whether in the provost or other 
places. This he is induced to do that the influence of pros- 
perity may be as extensive as possible. Even those that merit 
punishment rather than favor should not be excluded the bene- 
fit of an event so interesting to mankind as that which lately 
appeared to the officers of America. He hopes the indulgence 
will not be abused, but excite gratitude and produce a change 
of conduct, and an allowance of every practice consistent with 
the duty they owe their country." 

With the changing season came the hopeful change in the 
tide of human affairs. Guided by the unfaltering wisdom of 
the great chieftain, who never for a moment loosed his grasp 
upon the helm of power committed to his command, he steadily, 
amidst praise and blandishment, detraction and calumny, di- 
rected the combined agencies of America and her ally around 
the sharp angle, the turning-point in the Revolution, and on 
the high road to final success. Within forty-eight hours after 
signing the treaties of commerce and alliance between America 
and France, British spies carried the portentous news to their 
sovereign, whose Ministry at once sought by well-marked 
measures of conciliation to paralyze the inevitable result con- 
templated by the alliance. Three months elapsed before Wash- 
ington was apprised of the proceeding ; yet so certain and well 
founded were his anticipations of the event, so thoroughly had 
he prepared the public for its announcement, so closely had he 
discounted the probable action of the home government, that 
all their well-laid schemes to disconcert him and induce the 
acceptance of terms at variance with the declared will of the 
people utterly failed, leaving him master of the situation with 
an army fresh for the field, reorganized, equipped, drilled, and 
disciplined by the exertions of his splendid staff. . 



e 4 VALLEY FORGE. 

Active operations along the entire line, from Wilmington to 
Trenton, were commenced at an early period. Smallwood and 
Morgan and Lee were constant in their efforts on the west 
of the Schuylkill, and Lacy and Jameson and McClane were 
equally as vigilant on the east side of that river, to press back 
the outer line of the British and confine them to a city the 
occupancy of which was now seen to be a blunder, if not the 
pregnant source of approaching disaster to Howe's army. 
Washington, feeling assured of its evacuation, prepared for 
the event, and on the 18th of May directed General Lafayette 
with a corps of twenty-five hundred picked men to occupy 
Barren Hill, observe the movements of the enemy, and in the 
event of their retreat across New Jersey to fall upon their left 
and rear, while he would follow as rapidly as possible with the 
main army. The story of Lafayette at Barren Hill is one of 
the most interesting historical episodes of the Revolutionary 
war. The assignment of this youthful and illustrious officer 
by the Commander-in-Chief to the command of an indepen- 
dent expedition composed of the flower of the army, charged 
with duties certain to expose him to trials and perils of the 
most extraordinary character, illustrates the boundless confi- 
dence reposed in him ; and the manner in which he acquitted 
himself in disconcerting the plans laid by Howe, Clinton, Grant, 
and Sir William Erskine to destroy or capture him and his 
command, marks him as an officer of quick and brilliant per- 
ceptions upon the field of battle, perfect self-control in the hour 
of peril, and brave to a fault. Time will not permit us to re- 
peat the names of the distinguished officers who served with 
him in the expedition, or disclose the movements by which he 
extricated himself from a situation made perilous by the with- 
drawal of the militia from Whitemarsh and a rapid night march 
by the enemy, but which was timely revealed by the sleepless 
vigilance of Colonel McClane. Suffice must be to say, from 
the summit of these hills, on the morning of May 20, 1778, 
Washington, surrounded by a number of his field officers, wit- 
nessed the passage of Lafayette and his troops across the 
Schuylkill at Matson's Ford, now Conshohocken, under cover 
of the guns of General Poor, with a loss of only nine men, lost 
and captured. 



VALLEY FORGE. 



55 



Here we pause and close this paper, trusting that a grateful 
people will ever cherish and honor the memory of the heroic 
men whose valor and vigilance, toil and patient suffering, won 
for themselves and their posterity Independence ; Peace \ and the 
Republic, 

The following order is found in the Lee papers, New York Historical 
Society, vol. ii. p. 406 : 

Headquarters, 30th May, 1778. 

Sir, — Poor's, Varnum's, and Huntingdon's brigades are to march in one Division 
under your command to the North River. ' The Quartermaster-General will give 
you the route, encampment, and halting-places, to which you will conform as 
strictly as possible, to prevent interfering with other troops, and that I may know 
your situation every day. Leave as few sick and lame on the road as possible. Such 
as are absolutely incapable of marching with you are to be committed to the care 
of proper officers, with directions to follow as.fast as their condition will allow. 

Be strict in your discipline, suffer no rambling, keep men in their ranks and 
officers with their divisions, avoid pressing horses as much as possible, and punish 
severely every officer and soldier who shall presume to press without authority. 
Prohibit the burning of fences. In a word, you are to protect the persons and prop- 
erty of the inhabitants from every kind of insult and abuse. 

Begin your march at four o'clock in the morning at the latest, that it may be over 
before the heat of the day, and that the soldiers may have time to cook, refresh, and 
prepare for the following day. I am, etc., 

G°. WASHINGTON. 

P. S. — June 18. The foregoing instructions may serve you for general directions, 
but circumstances have varied since they were written. You are to halt on the first 
strong ground after passing the Delaware at Coryell's Ferry till further orders, un- 
less you should receive authentic intelligence that the enemy have proceeded by a 
direct route to South Amboy or still lower. In this case you will continue your 
march to the North River, agreeably to former orders, and by the rout already 
given you. If my memory does not deceive me, there is an advantageous spot of 
ground at the ferry, to the right of the road leading from the water. 

The Detachment under Col. Jackson to move to and take possession of Philadel- 
phia, and prevent plundering and abuse of persons. Van Scoick's Regiment to 
replace the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment in the Pennsylvania Brigade. The 
Second State Regiment of Virginia to replace the Thirteenth Regiment in Scott's 
Brigade. Park of Artillery to the several divisions equally, and march with them. 

The First and Second Divisions to move the morning after intelligence is re- 
ceived of the enemy's evacuation of the city. 

The Third and Fourth Divisions, the morning after these, and the Fifth Division 
the morning succeeding; every day's march to be given at four o'clock A.M. at 
furtherst. 

G°. WASHINGTON. 

The disposition for the Baggage of the Army to be as follows : The Commander- 
in-chief's Baggage is to march in the front of the column of wagons. The Adju- 



56 



VALLEY FORGE. 



tant General's, Paymaster-General's, Engineers' Muster Master, Auditor of Ac- 
counts, the Baggage of the Marquis de Lafayette and De Kalbe's Division, the 
baggage of Lord Sterling's Division, and then the Wagons of the Quarter-Master 
General's department, Flying Hospital, and lastly the Commissary and forage- 
Master General's Wagons. The whole Baggage to fall in rear of the Column of 
Troops. 

There will be a party of Artificers to go in front and rear of whole to mend 
Bridges and repair the broken carriages, which will take their orders from Qa.-M. 
Gen'l. 

Go. WASHINGTON. 

Order of March and route of the Army from Camp Valley Forge to Newburg 
on the North River, opposite Fishkill : 



Penna., ^ 
litto, > 

i Conwav's. J 



Poor, 

Varnum, 

Huntingdon. 

1st Penna 

2ddi 

Late Conway's. 

Woodford, 

Scott, 

No. Carolina. 

Glover, 

Patterson, 

Learned. 

Weedon, 

Muhlenberg, 

1st Maryland, 

2d Maryland. 



1st, Lee. Coryell's. 



2d, Mifflin. Sherard. 



3rd, Marquis. Coryell's. 



4th, De Kalb. Easton. 



5th, Sterling. Coryell's. 



Note. — The Light Horse is to march in front and upon the right flank in the 
day, and encamp in the rear of the troops at night. 

The new guards will form the advance guard of the army, and the old guards the 
rear Guard. Each regiment will send out a flank guard on the right flank in the 
proportion of a sergeant and twelve men to every 200 men. 



VALLEY FORGE. rj 



POEM. 
BY MRS. MARY E. THROPP CONE. 

To the Patriots of the Present and the Past; to the Living and the Dead of Valley 
Forge ; to All who gather to-day at my beloved home beyond the sea, these lines 
are most respectfully dedicated by Mrs. Andrew Cone.* 

Within my window, opening to the sea, 

I stand afar, and muse alone, 
Not on Brazilian scene of wave and shore, 

But on the Valley of my home. 
Above, in graceful rainbow curves, 

The banner Freedom won, 
Of lily, rose, and starry-blue, 

Floats in the morning sun. 

Before me spreads the flashing sea, 

Cradling the white-winged ships to rest, 
Circling fair Amazonian isles, 

In their rich tropic beauty drest : 
The beauty of the changeless years, 

Where winters never come, 
Touched by their artist's matchless hand, 

The equatorial sun. 

Oh ! gazing from this arch of palms, 

O'er silver reach of shining bay, 
My senses wrapt in beauty's dream, 

My truant thoughts are far away — 
Not on the glory of this summer land, 

Not on this sky of sapphire blue, 
Ah, no ! my longing heart, dear friends, 

Is all at home with you ! 

* Mrs. Andrew Cone, formerly Miss Mary E. Thropp, of Valley Forge, is now 
the wife of our United States Consul at Para, Brazil. 



58 



VALLEY FORGE. 

Brazilia's wilds with flowers aflame, 

Brazilia's wastes sublime, 
Her broad savannas, and her boundless floods, 

In all their flush of prime — 
Superb the setting, but the gem 

Is dross, compared with thee, 
In Virtue firm, in Wisdom great, 

Thou land of Liberty ! 

Far up 'mid Pennsylvania's hills 

Ye gather now, brave Boys in Blue, 
Who guarded with your lives the land 

Our fathers left to me and you. 
Hast'ning with honor, laurels, love, 

Ye come from farm and busy mart, — 
I come not, but, half trembling, send 

The tribute of my grateful heart. 

Oh, Loyal Men, who conquering came, 

Late from the lurid fields of war, 
Bringing the Ark of Union home 

On your victorious car ; 
'Tis meet that you, brave, kindred souls, 

Should seek each patriot mound, 
With reverent feet, and grateful heart, 

Our country's holy ground ! 

Men, o'er the ocean, fought for Kings, 

But ye, brave Sire and Son, 
To make these States " the Promised Land" 

For all beneath the sun; 
You rushed to battle, eager, brave, 

And fought — the Nation's pride — 
True sons of martyred sires who erst 

Endured, and starved and died. 

Sublime in suffering, waiting was to do, 

Oh, holy men of long ago ! 
Starving in cold and frozen camp, 

Praying on blood-stained snow ; 



VALLEY FORGE. 

Till weary with the hope deferred, 
Some waited not the coming day ; 

But- overtaxed, by suffering spent, 
The silver cord gave way. 

They prayed, and fought, endured and died, 

For all the race of time; 
And ye, their Peers, through paths of death 

Bore Union-Ark to Freedom's Shrine. 
Oh, could their unseen souls return, 

How would they bless their sons ! 
Mingling with triumph, songs of praise, 

And holy orisons. 

Rejoice ! the veil of centuries is rent, 

A hundred years sublime 
Lie like the waves, ere winds arise, 

Upon the shores of time ! 
Blest vale, so fair that Paradise 

Revived for man, again, in thee, 
Blest sunny slopes, and favoring skies, 

That cradled first young Liberty ! 

Oh, could thy child's enraptured story 

Tell the great deed erst done in thee ; 
Her verse proclaim the half thy glory, 

Till every human eye might see : 
How would mankind adore thy hills, 

Bless every mound thou bearest, 
And kiss, with reverent love, the hem 

Of blood-bought robe thou wearest ! 

Renowned thy Chieftain's soul of truth, 

Thy Prussian's martial lore, 
Thy Marquis — all the lion hearts 

Who led in Freedom's war. 
Our grateful hearts beat high to them, 

But, oh ! they yearn to-day, 
O'er those whose strong, heroic souls, 

In silence passed away. 



59 



5 Q VALLEY FORGE. 

How oft in hero-worship there, 

I've knelt and kissed the sod, 
O'er men who through that ordeal grew 

Great as the sons of God. 
Oh, feet that pressed these green redoubts, 

Worn feet, this camping-ground, 
Your work among these holy hills 

Is felt the wide earth 'round. 

For this, successive races fought, 

Swiss, Greek, and Roman bled, — 
Ye wrought at Freedom's Forge the steel 

To strike Oppression dead ! 
One power is reaping her reward, 

Sole nation, in advance, 
To welcome Heaven-born Freedom in, 

The friendly land of France. 

In war-tried Europe, nations fall, 

But thou, oh, Fair and Young ! 
Now that the clouds of Slavery flee, 

That o'er thy morning hung — 
Thy sun must rise, while theirs decline, 

Shedding o'er all Hope's ray serene ; 
Dispelling heart-ache, want, and woe, 

Where'er its peaceful glories beam. 

The Union safe, thy loyal sons 

Press proudly 'round thee now, 
Who lifted Slavery's malison 

From Freedom's suffering brow. 
She mourns her unreturning brave, 

Lost in our country's night of woe, 
While yet the tide of civil war, 

O'er breaking hearts surged to and fro. 

And, Christ-like, on the mountain yearns 

To gather young and old, 
In pitying love, till her white wings 

Shall all mankind enfold. 



VALLEY FORGE. g r 

Land of my love ! God guard thee well, 

Thou hope of every clime ! 
And guide thee, blessing man and blest, 

Thou Fairest-born of Time ! 

Oh, keep our fair Columbia pure, 

Brave brothers, tried and true, 
Guard well her honor, and the right, 

Our hopes are all with you ! 
Then round her brow for evermore, 

Shall stars of Freedom shine, 
That know no zenith of increase, 

No nadir of decline. 

Now blest with Union, Freedom, Peace, 

Give all the praise to God, 
And consecrate anew, this day, 

Our land, our lives to God. 
Then shall His benison descend 

On harvest and on store, 
And, ocean-like, o'er all the land 

Flow ever, evermore ! 

Hark ! 'tis the martial tread of hosts, 

The faint, far roll of drum, 
The refrain of the mighty dead, 

Across the ages come ! 
Unseen, but " ministering spirits" still, 

The deathless heroes pass 
In long, august procession, 

Through memory's magic glass. 

Grand armies ! glorious then and now, 

That, left to face the foe, 
This, victor comes, united, free, 

To honor those of long ago. 
March, brothers, march at set of sun, 

Your graceful homage given, 
And let your paeans, as you go, 

Roll o'er the hills to Heaven. 
"United States Consulate, ParA, Brazil, May n, 1878. 



6 2 VALLEY FORGE. 



ORATION. 

BY HENRY ARMITT BROWN. 

It is an honor to be here to-day. It is a privilege to behold 
this anniversary. This unusual spectacle, these solemn ser- 
vices, these flags and decorations, this tuneful choir, this mili- 
tary array, this distinguished company, this multitude darkening 
all the hill-side, proclaim the general interest and attest its 
magnitude. And it is proper to commemorate this time. One 
hundred years ago this country was the scene of extraordinary 
events and very honorable actions. We feel the influence of 
them in our institutions and our daily lives, and it is both nat- 
ural and right for us to seek, by some means, to mark their 
hundredth anniversaries. Those moments are passing quickly. 
Lexington, Bunker Hill, Germantown, Saratoga, have gone 
by already. Monmouth, Stony Point, Eutaw, and Yorktown 
are close at hand. It is eminently fit that we should gather 
here. 

I cannot add to what has already been said about this place. 
The deeds which have made it famous have passed into history. 
The page on which they are recorded is written. We can 
neither add to it nor take away. The heroic dead who suffered 
here are far beyond our reach. No human eulogy can make 
their glory greater, no failure to do them justice make it less. 
Theirs is a perfect fame, — safe, certain, and complete. Their 
trials here secured the happiness of a continent; their labors 
have borne fruit in the free institutions of a powerful nation ; 
their examples give hope to every race and clime; their names 
live on the lips of a grateful people; their memory is cherished 
in their children's hearts, and shall endure forever. It is not 
for their sakes, then, but for our own, that we have assembled 
here to-day. This anniversary, if I understand it right, has a 
purpose of its own. It is duty that has brought us here. The 
spirit appropriate to this hour is one of humility rather than of 
pride, of reverence rather than of exultation. We come, it is 



VALLEY FORGE. 



63 



true, the representatives of forty millions of free men by ways 
our fathers never dreamed of, from religions of which they 
never heard. We come in the midst of plenty, under a sky of 
peace, power in our right hand and the keys of knowledge in 
our left. But we are here to learn rather than to teach ; to 
worship, not to glorify. We come to contemplate the sources 
of our country's greatness; to commune with the honored past; 
to remind ourselves and show our children that joy can come 
out of sorrow, happiness out of suffering, light out of darkness, 
life out of death. 

Such is the meaning of this anniversary. I cannot do it 
justice. Would that there could come to some one in this 
multitude a tongue of fire, — an inspiration born of the time 
itself, that, standing in this place and speaking with the voice 
of olden time, he might tell us in fitting language of our fathers ! 
But it cannot be. Not even now. Not even here. Perhaps 
we do not need it. Some of us bear their blood, and all alike 
enjoy the happiness their valor and endurance won. And if 
my voice be feeble, we have but to look around. The hills 
that saw them suffer look down on us ; the ground that thrilled 
beneath their feet we tread to-day; their unmarked graves still 
lie in yonder field ; the breastworks which they built to shelter 
them surround us here! Dumb witnesses of the heroic past, 
ye need no tongues ! Face to face with you we see it all. This 
soft breeze changes to an icy blast ; these trees drop the glory 
of the summer, and the earth beneath our feet is wrapped in 
snow. Beside us is a village of log huts ; along that ridge 
smoulder the fires of a camp. The sun has sunk, the stars 
glitter in the inky sky, the camp is hushed, the fires are out, 
the night is. still. All are in slumber save where a lamp glim- 
mers in a cottage window, and a passing shadow shows a tall 
figure pacing to and fro. The cold silence is unbroken, save 
when on yonder ramparts, crunching the crisp snow with 
wounded feet, a ragged sentinel keeps watch for liberty! 

The close of 1777 marked the gloomiest period of the Revo- 
lution. The early enthusiasm of the struggle had passed away. 
The doubts which the first excitements banished had returned. 
The novelty of war had gone, and its terrors become awfully 
familiar. Fire and sword had devastated some of the best parts 



6 4 



VALLEY FORGE. 



of the country, its cities were ruined, its fields laid waste, its 
resources drained, its best blood poured out in sacrifice. The 
strength now had become one of endurance, and while liberty 
and independence seemed as far off as ever, men began to 
appreciate the tremendous cost at which they were to be pur- 
chased. The capture of Burgoyne had, after all, been only a 
temporary check to a powerful and still unexhausted enemy. 
Nor was its effect on the Americans themselves wholly benefi- 
cial. It had caused the North to relax, in a great measure, its 
activity and vigilance, and, combined with the immunity from 
invasions which the South had enjoyed, to lull asleep two- 
thirds of the continent. While a few hundred ill-armed, half- 
clad Americans guarded the Highlands of the Hudson, a well- 
equipped garrison, several thousand strong, lived in luxury in 
the city of New York. The British fleet watched with the eyes 
of Argus the rebel coast. Rhode Island lay undisputed in their 
hands ; Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas were open to their 
invasion, and as incapable of defence as Maryland had been 
when they landed in the Chesapeake. Drawn upon for the 
army, the sparse population could not half till the soil, and the 
savings of laborious years had all been spent. While the mis- 
erable paper currency which Congress, with a fatal folly never 
to be absent from the counsels of men, continued to issue and 
call money, obeyed natural rather than artificial laws, and fell 
four hundred per cent., coin flowed to Philadelphia and New 
York, and in spite of military orders and civil edicts, the scanty 
produce of the country followed it. Nor could the threatened 
penalty of death restrain the evil. Want began to be widely 
felt, and the frequent proclamations of the British, accompanied 
with Tory intrigue and abundant gold, to have effect. To some, 
even of the wisest, the case was desperate. Even the elements 
seemed to combine against the cause. A deluge prevented a 
battle at the Warren Tavern, a fog robbed Washington of vic- 
tory at Germantown, and at last, while the fate of America 
hung on the courage, the fortitude, and the patriotism of eleven 
thousand half-clothed, half-armed, hungry Continentals, who, 
discomforted but not discouraged, beaten but not disheartened, 
suffering but steadfast still, lay on their firelocks on the frozen 
ridges of Whitemarsh, a British army nineteen thousand five 



VALLEY FORGE, gj 

hundred strong, of veteran' troops, perfectly equipped, freshly 
recruited from Europe and flushed with recent victory, marched 
into winter-quarters in the chief city of the nation. 

THE OCCUPATION OF PHILADELPHIA. 

. Philadelphia surely had never seen- such gloomy days as 
those which preceded the entry of the British. On the 24th 
of August the American army marched through -the length of 
Front Street ;< on the 25th the British landed at the head of 
Elk. Days' of quiet anxiety ensued. On the , nth' of Sep- 
tember, as Tom Paine was writing a letter to Dr. Franklin^ the 
sound of cannon in the southwest interrupted him. From 
morning until late in the afternoon people in, the streets 
listened to the dull sound like distant thunder. About six 
o'clock it died away,, and the straining ear could catch nothing 
but the soughing of the wind. ■ With what anxiety men waited, 
— with what suspense! The: sun sank in the west, and the 
shadows crept over the little city. It was the .universal hour 
for the evening meal, but who could go home to» eat? Men 
gathered about the State House to talk; to conjecture, to con- 
sult together, and the women whispered in little groups at the 
doorsteps and craned their necks out of the darkened windows 
to look nervously up and down the street.; About eight o'clock 
there was a little tumult near the Coffee House. The story 
spread that Washington had gained a victory, and a few lads 
set up a cheer. But it was , not traced to' good authority, and 
disappointment followed. By nine in the evening the suspense 
was painful. Suddenly, far up Chestnut Street was heard the 
clatter of horses' feet. Some one was galloping" hard. Down 
; Chestnut, like an arrow, came at full speedy a ; single horseman. 
He had ridden fast and his horse was splashed with foam. 
Hearts beat quickly as he dashed by ; past Sixth Street, past 
,the State House^ past Fifth, and round the cqrner into Fourth: 
The; crowd followed, and instantly packed' around him as he 
drew rein at the Indian Queen. Hp threw a glance at the 
earnest faces that were; turned toward his and spoke : ''A battle 
has been fought at the Birmingham Meeting-house, on the 
Brandywine; the army has been beaten ; the French Marquis 
JLafayette shot through the leg. His Excellency has fallen 

5 



65 VALLEY FOR GE. 

back to Chester; the road below is full of stragglers." And 
then the crowd scattered, each one to his home, but not to sleep. 
A few days followed full of contradictory stories. The armies 
are manoeuvring on the Lancaster pike. Surely Washington 
will fight another battle. And then the news came and spread 
like lightning, — Wayne has been surprised, and his brigade 
massacred at the Paoli, and the enemy are in full march for 
Philadelphia ; the Whigs are leaving by hundreds ; the au- 
thorities are going ; the Congress have gone ; the British 
have arrived at Germantown. Who can forget the day that 
followed? 

A sense of something dreadful about to happen hangs over 
the town. A third of the houses are shut and empty. Shops 
are unopened, and busy rumor flies about the streets. Early 
in the morning the sidewalks are filled with a quiet, anxious 
crowd. The women watch behind bowed windows with half- 
curious, half-frightened looks. The men, solemn and subdued, 
whisper in groups, " Will they come to-day ?" "Are they here 
already ?" " Will they treat us like a conquered people ?" It 
was inevitable since the hot-bloods would have war. Some- 
times the Tory can be detected by an exultant look, but the 
general sentiment is gloomy. The morning drags along. By 
ten o'clock Second Street, from Callowhill to Chestnut, is filled 
with old men and boys. There is hardly a young man to be 
seen. About eleven is heard the sound of approaching cavalry, 
and a squadron of dragoons comes galloping down the street, 
scattering the boys right and left. The crowd parts to let them 
by and melts together again. In a few minutes far up the street 
there is the faint sound of martial music and something mov- 
ing that glitters in the sunlight. The crowd thickens and is 
full of hushed expectation. Presently one can see a red mass 
swaying to and fro. It becomes more and more distinct. 
Louder grows the music and the tramp of marching men as 
waves of scarlet, tipped with steel, come moving down the 
street. They are now but a square off, — their bayonets glancing 
in perfect line and steadily advancing to the music of " God 
Save the King." 

These are the famous grenadiers. Their pointed caps of red, 
fronted with silver, their white leather leggings and short scar- 



VALLEY FORGE. fa 

let coats, trimmed with blue, make a magnificent display. They 
are perfectly equipped, and look well fed and hearty. Behind 
them are more cavalry. No, these must be officers. The first 
one is splendidly mounted and wears the uniform of a general. 
He is a stout man, with gray hair and a pleasant countenance, 
in spite of the squint of an eye which disfigures it. A whisper 
goes through the bystanders, " It is Lord Cornwallis himself." 
A brilliant staff in various uniforms follows him and five men 
in civilian's dress. A glance of recognition follows these last 
like a wave along the street, for they are Joseph Galloway, 
Enoch Story, Tench Coxe, and the two Aliens, — father and son, 
— Tories, who have only dared to return home behind British 
bayonets. Long lines of red coats follow till the Fourth, the 
Fortieth, and the Fifty-fifth Regiments have passed by. But 
who are these in dark blue that come behind the grenadiers? 
Breeches of yellow leather, leggings of black, and tall, pointed 
hats of brass complete their uniform. They wear moustaches, 
and have a fierce foreign look, and their unfamiliar music seems 
to a child in that crowd to cry " Plunder ! plunder! plunder!" 
as it times their rapid march. These are the Hessian mer- 
cenaries whom Washington surprised and thrashed so well 
at Christmas in 'y6. And now grenadiers and yagers, horse, 
foot, and artillery that rumbles along making the windows 
rattle, have all passed by. The Fifteenth Regiment is drawn 
up on High Street, near Fifth ; the Forty-second Highlanders 
in Chestnut below Third ; and the artillery is parked in the 
State House yard. All the afternoon the streets are full, — 
wagons with luggage lumbering along, officers in scarlet riding 
to and fro, aides and orderlies seeking quarters for their differ- 
ent officers. Yonder swarthy, haughty-looking man dismount- 
ing at Norris's door is my Lord Rawdon. Lord Cornwallis is 
quartered at Peter Reeves's in Second, near Spruce, and Knyp- 
hausen at Henry Lisle's, nearer to Dock Street, on the east. 
The younger officers are well bestowed, for Dr. Franklin's 
house has been taken by a certain clever Captain Andre. The 
time for the evening parade comes, and the well-equipped regi- 
ments are drawn up in line, while slowly to the strains of mar- 
tial music the sun sinks in autumnal splendor in the west. The 
streets are soon in shadow, but still noisy with the tramping of 



6§ Valley forge. 

soldiers and the clatter of arms. In High Street, and on the 
commons, fires -are lit for the troops to do their cooking,. and 
the noises of the camp mingle with the city's hum. Most of 
the houses are shut, but here and there one stands wide open, 
while brilliantly dressed officers lounge at the windows or pass 
and repass in the doorway. The sound of laughter and music 
is heard, and the brightly lit windows of the London Coffee 
House and the Indian Queen tell of the parties that are cele- 
brating there the event they think so glorious, and thus, amid 
sounds of revelry, the night falls on the Quaker City. In spite 
of Trenton, and Princeton, and Brandywine; in spite of the 
wisdom of Congress, and the courage and skill of the Com- 
mander-in-Chief; in spite of the bravery and fortitude of the 
Continental army, the forces of the king are in the Rebel 
capital, and the " all's well" of hostile sentinels keeping guard 
by her northern border passes unchallenged from the Schuyl- 
kill to the Delaware. 

What matters it to Sir William Howe and his victorious army 
if rebels be- starving and their ragged currency be almost worth- 
less? Here is gold and plenty of good cheer. What whether 
they threaten to attack the British lines or disperse through the 
impoverished, country in search of food? The ten redoubts 
that stretch from Fairmount to Cohocksink Creek are stout 
and strongly manned, the river is open, and supplies and re- 
inforcements are on the way from England. What if the earth 
be wrinkled with frost ? The houses of Philadelphia are snug 
and warm. What if the rigorous winter has begun and snow 
be whitening the hills? Here are mirth and music, and dancing 
and wine, and women and play, and the pageants of a riotous 
capital ! And so with feasting and with revelry let the winter 
wear away ! 

ANOTHER PICTURE. 

The wind is cold and piercing on the old Gulf road, and the 
snow-flakes have begun lo fall. Who is this that toils up yon- 
der hill, his footsteps stained with blood? "His bare feet peep 
through his worn-out shoes, his legs nearly naked from the tat- 
tered remains of an only pair of stockings, his breeches not 
enough to cover his nakedness, his shirt hanging in strings, his 



VALLEY FGRGM. 60 

hair -dishevelled, his face wan and" thin, his lookf hungry, his 
-whble appearance that of a man forsaken and neglected."? 
( 0n his shoulder he carries a rusty gun, and the hand that 
grasps the stock" is blue with cold. His comrade is no better 
off, "nor he who follows, for both .are barefoot, and the ruts of 
the rough: country road are deep and frozen hard. A fourth 
comes iritQ view, and still another. ' A dozen are in sight 
Twenty have reached the ridge, and there are more to come, 
Seethem as they mount the hill that slopes eastward into the 
great valley. A thousand are in sight, but they are but the 
vanguard of the motley company that winds down the road 
until it is lost in the cloud of snow-flakes that have hidden the 
Gulf hills. I Yonder are horsemen in tattered uniforms, and 
behind them cannon lumbering slowly. over the frozen road;, 
half dragged, half pushed by men. They who appear to'be in 
authority have coats of every make and color. Here is one 
in a faded blue, faced with buckskin that has once' been buff; 
there is another on a tall, gaunt, horse, wrapped in a sort of 
dressing-gown; made of an old blanket or woollen bed-coveh 
A few of the men wear long linen hunting-shirts reaching to 
the knee, but of the rest no two are dressed alike, — not half 
have shirts, a third are barefoot, many are ;in rags. Nor are 
their arms the same. Cow-horns and tin boxes they carry for 
want of pouches. A few have" swords, fewer still bayonets, 
Muskets, carbines, fowling-pieces, and rifles are to be seen to- 
gether side by side. 

' . Are these soldiers that huddle together' and bow their heads 
as they face the biting wind? Is. this an army that comes 
straggling through the valley in the blinding snow ? No mar- 
tial rn us jc leads them in triumph into a captured capital ; no 
city full of good cheer and warm and comfortable homes awaits 
their coming ; no sound keeps time to their weary steps save 
the icy wind rattling the leafless branches and the dull tread of 
their weary feet on the frozen ground. In yonder forest must 
they find their shelter, and on the northern slope of these inhos- 
pitable hills their place of refuge. Perils shall soon assault 
them more threatening than any they encountered under the 
windows of Chew's house or by the banks of Brandy wine. 
Trials, that rarely have failed to break the fortitude of men 



j VALLEY FOR GE. 

await them here. False friends shall endeavor to undermine 
their virtue and secret enemies to shake their faith ; the Con- 
gress whom they serve shall prove helpless to protect them, 
and their country herself seem unmindful of their sufferings ; 
cold shall share their habitations and hunger enter in and be 
their constant guest ; disease shall infest their huts by day and 
famine stand guard with them through the night ; frost shall 
lock their camp with icy fetters and the snows cover it as with 
a garment; the storms of winter shall be pitiless, — but all in 
vain. Danger shall not frighten nor temptation have power to 
seduce them. Doubt shall not shake their love of country nor 
suffering overcome their fortitude. The powers of evil shall 
not prevail against them, for they are the Continental Army, and 
these are the hills of Valley Forge ! 

It is not easy to-day to imagine this country as it appeared a 
century ago. Yonder city, which now contains one-fourth as 
many inhabitants as were found in those days between Maine 
and Georgia, was a town of but thirty thousand men, and at 
the same time the chief city of the continent. The richness of 
the soil around it had early attracted settlers, and the farmers 
of the great valley had begun to make that country the garden 
which it is to-day ; but from the top of this hill one could still 
behold the wilderness under cover of which, but twenty years 
before, the Indian had spread havoc through the back settle- 
ments on the Lehigh and the Susquehanna. The most important 
place between the latter river and the site of Fort Pitt, " at the 
junction of the Ohio," was the frontier village of York, where 
Congress had taken refuge. The single road which connected 
Philadelphia with the western country had been cut through the 
forest to Harris's Block-House but forty years before. It was 
half a century only since its iron ore had led to the settlement' 
of Lancaster, and little more than a quarter since a single house 
had marked the site of Reading. The ruins of Colonel Bull's 
plantation — burned by the British on their march — lay in soli- 
tude on the hills which are covered to-day with the roofs and 
spires of Norristown, and where yonder cloud hangs over the 
furnaces and foundries of Phcenixville a man named Gordon, 
living in a cave, gave his name to a crossing of the river. Nor 
was this spot itself the same. A few small houses clustered 



VALLEY FORGE. 



71 



about Potts's Forge, where the creek tumbled into the Schuyl- 
kill, and two or three near the river-bank marked the begin- 
ning of a little farm. The axe had cleared much of the bottom- 
lands and fertile fields of the great valley, but these hills were 
still wrapped in forest that covered their sides far as the eye 
could reach. The roads that ascended their ridge on the south 
and east plunged into densest woods as they climbed the hill 
and met beneath its shadow at the same spot where to-day a 
school-house stands in the midst of smiling fields. It is no 
wonder that Baron de Kalb, as he gazed on the forest of oak 
and chestnut that covered the sides and summit of Mount Joy, 
should have described the place bitterly as " a wilderness." 

THE ENCAMPMENT. 

But nevertheless it was well chosen. There was no town 
that would answer. Wilmington and Trenton would have 
afforded shelter, but in the one the army would have been use- 
less, and in the other in constant danger. Reading and Lan- 
caster were so distant that the choice of either would have left 
a large district open to the enemy, and both, in which were 
valuable stores, could better be covered by an army here. 
Equally distant with Philadelphia from the fords of Brandy- 
wine and the ferry into Jersey, the army could move to either 
point as rapidly as the British themselves, and while distant 
enough from the city to be safe from surprise or sudden attack 
itself, it could protect the country that lay between and at the 
same time be a constant menace to the capital. Strategically, 
then, the General could not have chosen better. And the place 
was well adapted for the purpose. The Schuylkill, flowing from 
the Blue Hills, bent here toward the eastward. Its current was 
rapid and its banks precipitous. The Valley Creek, cutting its 
way through a deep defile at right angles to the river, formed a 
natural boundary on the west. The hill called Mount Joy, at the 
entrance of that defile, threw out a spur which, running parallel 
to the river about a mile, turned at length northward and met its 
banks. On the one side this ridge enclosed a rolling table-land ; 
on the other it sloped sharply to the great valley. The engi- 
neers under Duportail marked out a line of intrenchments four 
feet high, protected by a ditch six feet wide, from the entrance 



J2 



•VALLEY FORGE. 



of the Valley Greek defile along the crest of this ridge until it 
joined the bank of the Schuylkill, where a redoubt marked the 
eastern angle of the encampment. High on the shoulder of 
Mount Joy a second line girdled the mountain and then ran 
northward to the river,- broken only by the hollow through 
which the Gulf road descended to the Forge. This hollow 
place was later defended by an abatis and a triangular earth- 
work. :'..., . :-, 

A redoubt on the east side of Mount Joy commanded the 
Valley road, and another behind the left flank of the abatis 
that which came from the river, while a star redoubt on a hilt 
at the bank acted aS ; a tete-ae-pont for the bridge that was : 
thrown across the Schuylkill. Behind the front and before the 
second line the troops* were ordered to" build huts for winter- 
quarters. Fourteen feet by sixteen, of logs plastered with clay, 
these huts began to rise on every side. Placed in rows, each 
brigade by itself, they soon gave the camp the appearance of a 
little city. . All day long the axe resounded among the hills, and 
the place was filled with the noise of hammering and the crash 
of falling trees. "I was there when the army first began to 
build huts," wrote Paine to Franklin. "They appeared to me' 
like a family of beavers, every one busy; some carrying logs^ 
others plastering them together. The whole was raised in a 
few days, and it is a curious collection of buildings in the true 
rustic order." The weather soon became intensely cold. The 
Schuylkill froze over and the roads were blocked with snow, 
but it was not until nearly the middle of January that the last 
hut was built and the army settled down into winter-quarters 
on the bare hill-sides. Long before that its sufferings had 
begun. 

The trials which have made this place so famous arose chiefly 
from the incapacity of Congress. It is true that the country in 
the neighborhood of Philadelphia was wellnigh exhausted. An 
active campaign over a small extent of territory had drawn 
heavily on the resources of this part of Pennsylvania and the 
adjacent Jersey. Both forces had fed upon the country, and it 
was not so much disaffection (of which Washington wrote) as 
utter exhaustion, which made the farmers of the devastated 
region furnish so little to- the army. Nor would it have been 



VALLEY PORG A .73 

human nature in them to havepreferred the badly' printed, often 
counterfeited, depreciated promise-to pay of the Americans for 
the gold which the British had to offer. In spite of the efforts 
of McLane's and Lee's Light-Horse and the activity of Lacey, 
of the militia, the few supplies that were left went steadily tQ 
Philadelphia, and the patriot army remained in want. But the 
more distant 'States, North and South; could easily have fed 
and clothed a much more numerous army. That they did nof 
Was the feult of Congress. That body no longer contained the 
men who .had made it famous in the years gone by. Franklin 
was in Paris, where John Adams was about to join him. Jay, 
Jefferson, Rutledge, Livingston, and Henry were employed at 
home. Hancock had resigned. Samuel Adams was absent 
in New England. Men much their inferiors had taken theii 
places. 

The period, inevitable . in the history of revolutions, had 
arrived when men of the second rank come to the front, 
With the early leaders in the struggle had disappeared the 
foresight, the breadth of view, the loftiness of purpose, and 
the self-sacrificing spirit belonging only to great minds which 
had marked and honored the commencement of the struggle. 
A smaller mind had begun to rule, a narrower view to influ- r 
ence, a personal feeling to animate the members. Driven from 
Philadelphia, they were in a measure disheartened, and their 
pride touched in a tender spot. Incapable of the loftier senti- 
ments which had moved their predecessors, they could not 
overcome a sense of their own importance, and the desire to 
magnify their office. Petty rivalries had sprung up among 
them, and „ sectional feeling, smothered in '74, '75, and '76, had 
taken breath again, and asserted itself with renewed vigor in 
the recent debates on the confederation. But if divided among 
themselves by petty jealousies, they were united in a greater 
jealousy of Washington and the army. They cannot be wholly 
blamed for this. Taught by history no less than by their own 
experience of the dangers of standing, armies in a free state, 
and wanting in modern history the single example which we 
have in Washington of a successful military chief retiring 
voluntarily into private life, they judged the leader of their 
forces by themselves and the ordinary rules of -human nature. 



74 VALLEY FOR GE. 

Their distrust was not unnatural nor wholly selfish, and must 
find some justification in the exceptional greatness of his 
character. 

It was in vain that he called on them to dismiss their doubts 
and trust an army which had proved faithful. In vain he 
urged them to let their patriotism embrace, as his had learned 
to do, the whole country with an equal fervor. In vain he 
pointed out that want of organization in the army was due to 
want of union among them. They continued distrustful and 
unconvinced. In vain he asked for a single army, one and 
homogeneous. Congress insisted on thirteen distinct armies, 
each under the control of its particular State. The effect was 
disastrous. The personnel of the army was continually chang- 
ing. Each State had its own rules, its own system of organi- 
zation, its own plan of making enlistments. No two worked 
together, — the men's terms even expiring at the most delicate 
and critical times. Promotion was irregular and uncertain, and 
the sense of duty was impaired as that of responsibility grew 
less. Instead of an organized army, Washington commanded 
a disorganized mob. The extraordinary virtues of that great 
man might keep the men together, but there were some things 
which they could not do. Without an organized quartermaster's 
department the men could not be clothed or fed. At first mis- 
managed, this department became neglected. The warnings of 
Washington were disregarded, his appeals in vain. The troops 
began to want clothing soon after Brandywine. By November 
it was evident that they must keep the field without blankets, 
overcoats, or tents. At Whitemarsh they lay, half clad, on 
frozen ground. By the middle of December they were in 
want of the necessaries of life. 

THE SUFFERINGS OF THE SOLDIERS. 

" We are ordered to march over the river," writes Dr. 
Waldo, of Colonel Prentice's Connecticut Regiment, at Swedes' 
Ford, on December 12. " It snows — I'm sick — eat nothing — 
no whiskey — no baggage — Lord — Lord — Lord. Till sunrise 
crossing the river, cold and uncomfortable. I'm sick," he goes 
on two days after, in his diary, " discontented, and out of 
humor. Bad food — hard lodging — cold weather — fatigued — 



VALLEY FORGE. 



7$ 



nasty clothes — nasty cookery — smoked out of my senses — I 
can't endure it. Here comes a bowl of soup, sickish enough 
to make a Hector ill. Away with it, boy — I'll live like the 
chameleon, on air." On the 19th of December they reached 
Valley Forge. By the 2 1st even such a bowl of soup had 
become a luxury. " A general cry," notes Waldo again, 
" through the camp this evening : ' No meat, no meat.' The 
distant vales echoed back the melancholy sound : ' No meat, 
no meat.' " It was literally true. On the next day Washing- 
ton wrote to the President of Congress : " I do not know from 
what cause this alarming deficiency, or rather total failure of 
supplies, arises, but unless more vigorous exertions and better 
regulations take place in that line immediately this army must 
dissolve. I have done all in my power by remonstrating, by 
writing, by ordering the commissaries on this head from time 
to time, but without any good effect or obtaining more than a 
present scanty relief. Owing to this the march of the army 
has been delayed on more than one interesting occasion in the 
course of the present campaign ; and had a body of the enemy 
crossed the Schuylkill this morning (as I had reason to expect 
from the intelligence I received at four o'clock last night), the 
divisions which I ordered to be in readiness to march and meet 
them could not have moved." Hardly was this written when 
the news did come that the enemy had come out to Darby, 
and the troops were ordered under arms. " Fighting," re- 
sponded General Huntington when he got the order, " will be 
far preferable to starving. My brigade is out of provisions, nor 
can the commissary attain any meat." " Three days succes- 
sively," added Varnum, of Rhode Island, " we have been with- 
out bread, two entirely without meat." It was impossible to 
stir. " And this," wrote Washington, in indignation, " brought 
forth the only commissary in camp, and with him this melan- 
choly and alarming truth, that he had not a single hoof to 
slaughter and not more than twenty-five barrels of flour." " I 
am now convinced beyond a doubt that unless some great and 
capital change takes place in that line this army must inevita- 
bly be reduced to one of these three things, — starve, dissolve, 
or disperse in order to obtain subsistence." 

But no change was destined to take place for many suffering 



7$ 



VALLEY F.O&G&. 



weeks to come. The cold .grew more and more intense, and 
provisions scarcer every day. Soon all were, alike in wank 
"The colonels Were often reduced to two rations, and' somer 
times to one. The army frequently remained whole days 
[without provisions," is the. testimony of Lafayette* "We have 
Jately been in an alarming state for want of provisions," says 
■.Colonel Laurens, on the 21st of February. "The army has 
( been in great distress since you left," wrote Greene to Knox 
-five days afterwards ; "the troops are getting .naked. They 
were seven: days without meat, and several days without 
bread. ... We are still in danger of starving. Hundreds 
of horses have already starved to death." The painful testi? 
tnony is full' and' uncontradictory; "Several brigades," wrote 
Adjutant-General Scammel to Timothy Pickering, early in 
February, "have been without their allowance of meat. This 
isithe third, day." "In yesterday's conference with the Gen r 
eral," said the committee of Congress sent to report, writing on 
the 1 2th of February, "he informed us that some brigades had 
been four days without meat, and that even the common sol- 
diers had been at his quarters to make known their' wants* 
Should the enemy attack the camp successfully, your artillery 
would inevitably fall into their hands for want of horses to 
remove it. But these are smaller and tolerable evils when 
eompare'd with the imminent danger of your troops perishing 
with famine or dispersing in search of food." " For some 
days past there has been little less than a famine in the camp," 
writes Hamilton to Clinton ; " a part of the army has been 
a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four 
days." ,' * 

Famished for want of food, they were no better off for 
clothes. The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything. 
"They had neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes," wrote the 
Marquis de Lafayette. "The men," said Baron Steuben, "were 
literally naked, some of them in the fullest extent of the word.": 
" 'Tis a melancholy consideration," were the words of Picker- 
ing, "that hundreds of our. men are unfit for duty only for 
want of clothes and shoes." Hear Washington himself on the 
23d of December: "We have (besides a number of men con? 
fined to hospitals for want of shoes, and others in farm-houses 



VALLEY FOR GET. «*r 

6n the same account), by a field return, this day made, rib less 
than two thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine men now. in: 
camp unfit for duty, because they are barefoot and otherwise 
naked. Our numbers since the 4th instant from the hardships 
and exposures they have undergone, numbers having been 
obliged for want of blankets to sit up all night by fires instead 
of taking rest in a natural and common way, have; decreased: 
two thousand men." By the 1st of February that number had 
grown to four thousand, and there 1 were fit for duty but five 
thousand and twelve, or one-half the men in camp. " So," iii 
the words of the Hebrew prophet, "they labored in the' work,, 
and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morn-; 
ing till the stars appeared." ;; 

NAJCED AND STARVING. 

•• Naked and starving in an unusually rigorous 1 winter, they 
fell sick by hundreds. " From want of clothes their feet and 
legs froze till they became black, and it was necessary to ampu^ 
fate them." "Through a want of straw or materials to raise 
them from the wet earth" (I quote again from the committee of 
Congress) "sickness and mortality have spread' through their; 
quarters to an astonishing degree. The smallpdx hals broken 
out. Notwithstanding the diligence of the physicians and sur a - 
geons, the sick and dead list has increased one-third in the last 
week's return, which was one-third greater than the preceding; 
and from the present inclement weather will probably increase 
in a much greater proportion." Well might Washington \vqgk 
claim, " Our sick naked, our well naked, our unfortunate men 
in captivity naked ! Our difficulties and distresses ar£ certainly 
great, and such as wound theTeelings of humanity." Nor was 
this all. What many had to endure iDeside, let Dr. Waldo |eil1 
" When tlie officer has been fatiguing; through wet and cdld, 
and returns to his tent to find' a: letter > from his wife filled- with 
the most heart-aching i Complairits a: woman : is' capable of 
writing, acquainting him with the incredible difficulty with 
which she procures a little breaxi for. herself and children ; that 
her money". is of very little donsequence to her,— concluding 
with expressions borderijng on despair of getting sufficient food 
to keep soul and body together through the winter, and beg? 



yg VALLEY FORGE. 

ging him to consider that charity begins at home, and not 
suffer his family to perish with want in the midst of plenty, — 
what man is there whose soul would not shrink within him ? 
Who would not be disheartened from persevering in the best 
of causes — the cause of his country — when such discourage- 
ments as these lie in his way which his country might remedy 
if it would?" 

Listen to his description of the common soldier : " See the 
poor soldier when in health. With what cheerfulness he meets 
his foes and encounters every hardship. If barefoot, he labors 
thro' the mud and cold with a song in his mouth, extolling war 
and Washington. If his food be bad he eats it notwithstand- 
ing with seeming content, blesses God for a good stomach, and 
whistles it into digestion. But harkee ! Patience a moment ! 
There comes a soldier and cries with an air of wretchedness 
and despair, 'I'm sick; my feet lame; my legs are sore ; my 
body covered with this tormenting itch ; my clothes are worn 
out ; my constitution is broken ; my former activity is exhausted 
by fatigue, hunger, and cold ; I fail fast ; I shall soon be no more ! 
And all the reward I shall get will be, ' Poor Will is dead !' " 
And in the midst of this they persevered ! Freezing, starving, 
dying, rather than desert their flag they saw their loved ones 
suffer, but kept the faith. And the American yeoman of the 
Revolution remaining faithful through that winter is as splendid 
an example of devotion to duty as that which the pitying ashes 
of Vesuvius have preserved through eighteen centuries in the 
figure of the Roman soldier standing at his post, unmoved 
amid all the horrors of Pompeii. " The Guard die, but never 
surrender," was the phrase invented for Cambronne. " My 
comrades freeze and starve, but they never forsake me," might 
be put into the mouth of Washington. 

" Naked and starving as they are," writes one of their officers, 
" one cannot sufficiently admire the incomparable patience and 
fidelity of the soldiers that have not been ere this excited by 
their sufferings to a general mutiny and desertion." " Nothing 
can equal their sufferings," says the committee, "except the 
patience and fortitude with which they bear them." Greene's 
account to Knox is touching: "Such patience and moderation 
as they manifested under their sufferings does the highest honor 



VALLEY FORGE. 



79 



to the magnanimity of the American soldiers. The seventh day 
they came before their superior officers and told their sufferings 
as if they had been humble petitioners for special favors. They 
added that it would be impossible to continue in camp any 
longer without support." In March, Thomas Wharton wrote 
in the name of Pennsylvania: "The unparalleled patience and 
magnanimity with which the army under your Excellency's 
command have endured the hardships attending their situation, 
unsupplied as they have been through an uncommonly severe 
winter, is an honor which posterity will consider as more illus- 
trious than could have been derived to them by a victory 
obtained by any sudden and vigorous exertion." " I would 
cherish these dear, ragged Continentals, whose patience will 
be the admiration of future ages, and glory in bleeding with 
them," cried John Laurens in the enthusiasm of youth. "The 
patience and endurance of both soldiers and officers was a 
miracle which each moment seemed to renew," said Lafayette 
in his old age. But the noblest tribute comes from the pen of 
him who knew them best : " Without arrogance or the smallest 
deviation from truth, it may be said that no history now extant 
can furnish an instance of an army's suffering such uncommon 
hardships as ours has done, and bearing them with the same 
patience and fortitude. To see men without clothes to cover 
their nakedness, without blankets to lie upon, without shoes 
(for the want of which their marches might be traced by the 
blood from their feet), and almost as often without provisions 
as with them, marching through the frost and snow, and at 
Christmas taking up their winter-quarters within a day's march 
of the enemy without a house or a hut to cover them till they 
could be built, and submitting without a murmur, is a proof of 
patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be 
paralleled." Such was Washington's opinion of the soldiers 
of Valley Forge. 

HOLY GROUND. 

Americans, who have gathered on the broad bosom of these 
hills to-day, if heroic deeds can consecrate a spot of earth, if 
the living be still sensible of the example of the dead, if cour- 
age be yet a common virtue and patience in suffering be still 
honorable in your sight, if freedom be any longer precious and 



gO VALLEY _FORGL\. 

faith in humanity be not banished from" among you, if love of 
country still find a refuge among the hearts of jnen, " take your 
shoes from off your feet, for the place on which you stand is 
holy ground." 

And who are the leaders of the men whose heroism can 
sanctify a place like this? Descend the hill and wander through 
the camp. The weather is intensely cold and the smoke hangs 
above the huts. On the plain behind the front line a few gen- 
eral officers are grouped about a squad whom the new inspector, 
the German baron, is teaching some manoeuvre. Bodies of men 
here and there are dragging wagons up-hill (for the horses have 
starved to death) or carrying fuel for fires, without which the 
troops would freeze. The huts are deserted save by the sick 
or naked, and as you pass along the street a poor fellow peeps 
out at the door of one and cries, " No bread, no soldier!" 

THE TROOPS AND THEIR LEADERS. 

' These are the huts of Huntington's brigade, of. the Connecti- 
cut line; next to it those of Pennsylvanians under Conway. 
This is the Irish-Frenchman soon to disappear in a disgraceful 
intrigue. Here in camp there are many who whisper that he 
is a mere adventurer, but in Congress they still think him " a 
great military character." Down toward.s headquarters are the 
Southerners, commanded by Lachlin Mcintosh, in his youth 
" the handsomest man in Georgia." Beyond Conway, on the 
hill, is Maxwell, a gallant Irishman, commissioned by New 
Jersey. Woodford, of Virginia, commands on the right of the 
second line, and in front of him the Virginian Scott. The next 
brigade in order is of Pennsylvanians,— many of them men 
whose homes are in this neighborhood, — Chester County boys 
and Quakers from the valley turned soldier for their country's 
sake. They are the children of three races : the hot Irish blood 
mixes with the colder Dutch in their calm English veins, and 
some of them — their chief, for instance — are splendid fighters. 
There he is at this moment riding up the hill from his quarters 
in the valley. A man of medium height and strong frame, he 
sits his horse well and with a dashing air. His nose is promi- 
nent, his eye piercing, his complexion ruddy, his whole appear- 
ance that of a man of splendid health and flowing spirits. He 



VALLEY FORGE. gl 

is just the fellow to win by his headlong valor the nickname of 
" The Mad." But he is more than a mere fighter. Skilful, ener- 
getic, full of resources and presence of mind, quick to comprehend 
and prompt to act, of sound judgment and extraordinary cour- 
age, he has in him the qualities of a great general, as he shall 
show many a time in his short life of one-and-fifty years. 
Pennsylvania, after her quiet fashion, may not make as much 
of his fame as it deserves, but impartial history will allow her 
none the less the honor of having given its most brilliant sol- 
dier to the Revolution in her Anthony Wayne. Poor, of New 
Hampshire, is encamped next, and then Glover, whose regiment 
of Marblehead sailors and fishermen manned the boats that 
saved the army on the night of the retreat from Long Island. 
Learned, Patterson, and Weedon follow, and then at the corner 
of the intrenchments by the river is the Virginian brigade of 
Muhlenberg. Born at the Trappe, close by, and educated 
abroad, Muhlenberg was a clergyman in Virginia when the war 
came on, but he has doffed his parson's gown forever for the 
buff and blue of a brigadier. His stalwart form and swarthy 
face are already as familiar to the enemy as they are to his own 
men, for the Hessians are said to have cried, " Hier kommt 
teufel Pete !" as they saw him lead a charge at Brandywine. 
The last brigade is stationed on the river-bank, where Varnum 
and his Rhode Islanders, in sympathy with young Laurens, of 
Carolina, are busy with a scheme to raise and enlist regiments 
of negro troops. These are the commanders of brigades. The 
major-generals are seven, — portly William Alexander, of New 
York, who claims to be the Earl of Stirling, but can fight for a 
republic bravely nevertheless ; swarthy John Sullivan, of New 
Hampshire, a little headstrong but brave as a lion ; Steuben, 
the Prussian martinet, who has just come to teach the army; De 
Kalb, — self-sacrificing and generous De Kalb, — whose honest 
breast shall soon bear eleven mortal wounds received in the 
service of America; Lafayette, tall, with auburn hair, — the French 
boy of twenty with an old man's head, — just recovering from 
the wounds of Brandywine ; and last and greatest of them all, 
Nathaniel Greene, the Quaker blacksmith from Rhode Island, 
in all great qualities second only to the Chief himself. Yonder 
is Henry Knox, of the artillery, as brave and faithful as he is 

6 



3 2 VALLEY FORGE. 

big and burly, and the Pole, Pulaski, a man " of middle stature, 
of sharp countenance and lively air." Here are the Frenchmen, 
Duportail, Dubryson, Duplessis, and Duponceau. Here are 
Timothy Pickering and Light-Horse Harry Lee, destined to 
be famous in Senate, Cabinet, and field. Here are Henry Dear- 
born and William Hull, whose paths in life shall one day cross 
again, and John Laurens and Tench Tilghman, those models 
of accomplished manhood, destined so soon to die ! 

Does that silent boy of twenty, who has just ridden by with 
a message from Lord Stirling, imagine that one day the doc- 
trine which shall keep the American continent free from the 
touch of European politics shall be forever associated with the 
name of James Monroe ? Does yonder tall, awkward youth, 
in the Third Virginia, who bore a musket so gallantly at 
Brandywine, dream, as he lies there shivering in his little hut 
on the slopes of Mount Joy, that in the not distant future it is 
he that shall build up the jurisprudence of a people, and after a 
life of usefulness and honor bequeath to them, in the fame of 
John Marshall, the precious example of a great and upright 
Judge? Two other youths are here, — both of small stature 
and lithe, active frame, — of the same rank and almost the same 
age, whose ambitious eyes alike look forward already to fame 
and power in law and politics. But not even his own aspiring 
spirit can foretell the splendid rise, the dizzy elevation, and the 
sudden fall of Aaron Burr — nor can the other foresee that the 
time will never come when his countrymen will cease to admire 
the genius and lament the fate of Alexander Hamilton ! 

THE DARKEST HOUR. 

And what shall I say of him who bears on his heart the 
weight of all? Who can measure the anxieties that afflict his 
mind? Who weigh the burdens that he has to bear? Who 
but himself can ever know the responsibilities that rest upon 
his soul ? Behold him in yonder cottage, his lamp burning 
steadily through half the winter night, his brain never at rest, 
his hand always busy, his pen ever at work ; now counselling 
with Greene how to clothe and feed the troops, or with Steuben 
how to reorganize the service ; now writing to Howe about 
exchanges, or to Livingston about the relief of prisoners, or to 



VALLEY FORGE. 



83 



Clinton about supplies, or to Congress about enlistments or 
promotions or finances or the French Alliance ; opposing 
foolish and rash councils to-day, urging prompt and rigorous 
policies to-morrow ; now calming the jealousy of Congress, 
now soothing the wounded pride of ill-used officers ; now an- 
swering the complaints of the civil authority, and now those of 
the starving soldiers, whose sufferings he shares, and by his 
cheerful courage keeping up the hearts of both ; repressing the 
zeal of friends to-day, and overcoming with steadfast rectitude 
the intrigues of enemies in Congress and in camp to-morrow ; 
bearing criticism with patience and calumny with fortitude, and, 
lest his country should suffer, answering both only with plans 
for her defence, of which others are to reap the glory ; guard- 
ing the long coast with ceaseless vigilance, and watching with 
sleepless eye a chance to strike the enemy in front a blow ; a 
soldier subordinating the military to the civil power; a dictator 
as mindful of the rights of Tories as of the wrongs of Whigs ; 
a statesman, commanding a revolutionary army ; a patriot, for- 
getful of nothing but himself; this is he whose extraordinary 
virtues only have kept the army from disbanding and saved 
his country's cause. Modest in the midst of pride, wise in the 
midst of folly, calm in the midst of passion, cheerful in the 
midst of gloom, steadfast among the wavering, hopeful among 
the despondent, bold among the timid, prudent among the 
rash, generous among the selfish, true among the faithless, 
greatest among good men and best among the great, — such was 
George Washington at Valley Forge. 

But the darkest hour of night is just before the day. In 
the middle of February Washington described the dreadful 
situation of the army and "the miserable prospects before it" 
as " more alarming" than can possibly be conceived, and as 
occasioning him more distress "than he had felt" since the 
commencement of the war. On the 23d of February he whom 
we call Baron Steuben rode into camp ; on the 6th, Franklin 
signed the Treaty of Alliance at Versailles. 

STEUBEN AND FRANKLIN. 

Frederick William Augustus, Baron von Steuben, was a native 
of Magdeburg, in Prussia. Trained from early life to arms, he 



8 4 



VALLEY FORGE. 



had been Aide to the Great Frederick, Lieutenant-General to 
the Prince of Baden, Grand Marshal at the Court of one of the 
Hohenzollerns, and a Canon of the Church. A skilful soldier, a 
thorough disciplinarian, a gentleman of polished manners, a 
man of warm and generous heart, he had come in the prime of 
life and vigor to offer his services to the American people. 
None could have been more needed or more valuable at the 
time. Congress sent him to the camp, Washington quickly 
discerned his worth, and in a little time he was made Major- 
General and Inspector of the army. In an instant there was a 
change in that department. A discipline unknown before took 
possession of the camp. Beginning with a picked company of 
one hundred and twenty men, the Baron drilled them carefully 
himself on foot and musket in hand. These when they became 
proficient he made a model for others, and presently the whole 
camp had become a military school. Rising at three in the 
morning, he smoked a single pipe while his servant dressed his 
hair, drank one cup of coffee, and with his star of knighthood 
gleaming on his breast was on horseback at sunrise, and with 
or without his suite galloped to the parade. There all day he 
drilled the men, and at nightfall galloped back to the hut in 
which he made his quarters, to draw up regulations and draft 
instructions for the inspectors under him. And thus day after 
day, patient, careful, laborious, and persevering, in a few months 
he transformed this untrained yeomanry into a disciplined and 
effective army. There have been more brilliant services ren- 
dered to America than these, but few perhaps more valuable 
and worthier of remembrance. Knight of the Order of Fidelity, 
there have been more illustrious names than thine upon our 
lips to-day. Like many another who labored for us, our busy 
age has seemed to pass thee by. But here, at last, when, after 
a century, Americans gather to review their country's history, 
shall they recall thy unselfish services with gratitude, and thy 
memory with honor. 

And surely at Valley Forge we must not forget what Frank- 
lin was doing for his country's cause in France. It was a 
happy thing for the Republican Idea that it had a distant conti- 
nent for the place of its experiment. It was a fortunate thing 
for America that between her and her nearest European neigh- 



VALLEY FORGE. 85 

bor lay a thousand leagues of sea. That distance — a very dif- 
ferent matter from what it is to-day — made it at the same time 
difficult for England to overcome us, and safe for France to 
lend us aid. From an early period this alliance seemed to 
have been considered by the Cabinet of France. For several 
years secret negotiations had been going on, and in the fall of 
1777 they became open and distinct, and the representatives of 
both nations came face to face. There was no sympathy be- 
tween weak and feeble Louis and his crafty Ministers on the 
one side and the representatives of Democracy and Rebellion 
on the other, — nor had France any hopes of regaining her foot- 
hold on this continent. The desire of her rulers was simply to 
humiliate and injure England, and the revolution in America 
seemed to offer the chance. Doubtless they were influenced 
by the fact that the cause of America had become very popular 
with all classes of the French people, impressed to a remark- 
able degree with the character of Dr. Franklin, and stirred by 
the contagious and generous example of Lafayette. Nor was 
this popular feeling merely temporary or without foundation. 
Long familiar as he had been with despotism in both politics 
and religion, the Frenchman still retained within him a certain 
spirit of Liberty which was stronger than he knew. His sym- 
pathies naturally went out toward a distant people engaged in 
a gallant struggle against his hereditary enemies, — the English; 
but besides all that, there was in his heart something, he hardly 
knew what, that vibrated at the thought of a freedom for others, 
which he had hardly dreamed of and never known. Little did 
he or any of his rulers foresee what that something was. Little 
did France imagine, as she blew into a flame the spark of liberty 
beyond the sea, that there was that within her own dominions 
which in eleven years, catching the divine fire from the glowing 
West, would set herself and Europe in a blaze. Accordingly, 
after much doubt, delay, and intrigue, during which Franklin 
bore himself with rare ability and tact, treaties of amity, com- 
merce, and alliance were prepared and signed. The indepen- 
dence of America was acknowledged and made the basis of 
alliance, and it was mutually agreed that neither nation should 
lay down its arms until England had conceded it. A fleet, 
an army, and munitions were promised by the King, and, 



86 VALLEY FORGE. 

as a consequence, war was at once declared against Great 
Britain. 

THE DAWN AT LAST. 

We are accustomed to regard this as the turning-point in the 
Revolutionary struggle. And so it was. But neither the fleet 
of France nor her armies, gallant as they were, nor the sup- 
plies and means with which she furnished us, were as valuable 
to the cause of the struggling country as the moral effect, at 
home as well as abroad, of the alliance. Hopes that were built 
upon the skill of French sailors were soon dispelled, the ex- 
pectation of large contingent armies was not to be fulfilled, 
but the news of the French alliance carried into every patriotic 
heart an assurance that never left it afterward, and kept aroused 
a spirit that henceforward grew stronger every year. Says the 
historian Bancroft : " The benefit then conferred on the United 
States was priceless. And so the flags of France and the United 
States went together into the field against Great Britain unsup- 
ported by any other government, yet with the good wishes of 
all the peoples of Europe." And so illustrious Franklin, the 
Philadelphia printer, earned the magnificent compliment that 
was paid him at the French Academy : " Eripuit fulmen ccelo, 
sceptrumque tyrannis." 

And all the while, unconscious of the event, the winter days 
at Valley Forge dragged by, one after another, with sleet and 
slush and snow, with storms of wind, and ice and beating rain. 
The light-horse scoured the country, the pickets watched, the 
sentinels paced up and down, the men drilled and practised, 
and starved and froze and suffered, and at last the spring-time 
came, and with it stirring news. Greene was appointed Quarter- 
master-General on the 23d of March, and under his skilful man- 
agement relief and succor came. The conciliatory bills, offering 
all but independence, were received in April, and instantly rejected 
by Congress, under the stirring influence of a letter from Wash- 
ington, declaring with earnestness that " nothing short of inde- 
pendence would do," and at last, on the 4th of May, at eleven 
o'clock at night, the news of the French treaty reached the 
headquarters. 

On the 6th, by general orders, the army, after appropriate 
religious services, was drawn up under arms, salutes were fired 



VALLEY FORGE. 



*7 



with cannon and musketry, cheers given by the soldiers for the 
King of France and the American States, and a banquet by the 
General-in-Chief to all the officers in the open air completed a 
day devoted to rejoicing. "And all the while," says the Eng- 
lish satirist, " Howe left the famous camp of Valley Forge 
untouched, whilst his great, brave, and perfectly appointed army 
fiddled and gambled and feasted in Philadelphia. And by 
Byng's countrymen triumphal arches were erected, tourna- 
ments were held in pleasant mockery of the Middle Ages, and 
wreaths and garlands offered by beautiful ladies to this clement 
chief, with fantastical mottoes and poesies announcing that his 
laurels should be immortal." On the 1 8th of May (the day of 
that famous festivity) Lafayette took post at Barren Hill, from 
which he escaped so brilliantly two days afterwards. At last, 
on the 1 8th of June, George Roberts, of Philadelphia, came 
galloping up the Gulf road covered with dust and sweat, with 
the news that the British had evacuated Philadelphia. Six 
brigades were at once in motion, — the rest of the army pre- 
pared to follow with all possible despatch early on the 19th. 
The bridge across the Schuylkill was laden with tramping 
troops. Cannon rumbled rapidly down the road to the river. 
The scanty baggage was packed, the flag at headquarters taken 
down, the last brigade descended the river-bank, the huts were 
empty, the breastworks deserted, the army was off for Mon- 
mouth, and the hills of Valley Forge were left alone with their 
glory and their dead. The last foreign foe had left the soil of 
Pennsylvania forever. Yes, the last foreign foe ! Who could 
foretell the mysteries of the future ? Who foresee the trials 
that were yet to come ? Little did the sons of New England 
and the South, who starved and froze and died here in the 
snow together, think, as their eyes beheld for the last time the 
little flag that meant for them a common country, that the time 
would come when, amid sound of cannon, their children, met 
again on Pennsylvania soil, would confront each other in the 
splendid agony of battle ! Sorrow was their portion, but it 
was not given them to suffer this. It was theirs to die in the 
gloomiest period of their country's history, but certain that her 
salvation was assured. It was theirs to go down into the grave 
rejoicing in the belief that their lives were sacrifice enough, 



88 VALLEY FORGE. 

blessedly unconscious that the liberty for which they struggled 
demanded that three hundred thousand of their children should 
with equal courage and devotion lay down their lives in its de- 
fence. Happy alike they who died before that time and we 
who have survived it! And, thank God this day, that its 
shadow has passed away forever. The sins of the fathers 
visited upon the children have been washed away in blood, — 
the sacrifice has been accepted, — the expiation has been com- 
plete. The men of North and South whose bones moulder on 
these historic hill-sides did not die in vain. The institutions 
which they gave us we preserve, — the freedom for which they 
fought is still our birthright, — the flag under which they died 
floats above our heads on this anniversary, the emblem of a 
redeemed, regenerate, reunited country. The Union of these 
States still stands secure. Enemies within and foes without 
have failed to break it, and the spirit of faction, from whatever 
quarter or in whatever cause, can no more burst its holy bonds 
asunder than can we separate in this sacred soil the dust of 
Massachusetts and that of Carolina from that Pennsylvania 
dust in whose embrace it has slumbered for a century, and 
with which it must forever be indistinguishably mingled. 

THE GLORY OF VALLEY FORGE. 

Such, then, is the history of this famous place. To my mind 
it has a glory all its own. The actions which have made it 
famous stand by themselves. It is not simply because they are 
heroic. Brave deeds have sanctified innumerable places in every 
land. The men of our revolution were not more brave than their 
French allies, or their German cousins, or their English brethren. 
Courage belongs alike to all men. Nor were they the only men 
in history who suffered. Others have borne trial as bravely, 
endured with the same patience, died with as perfect a devotion. 
But it is not given to all men to die in the best of causes or 
win the greatest victories. It was the rare fortune of those 
who were assembled here one hundred years ago that, having 
in their keeping the most momentous things that were ever 
intrusted to a people, they were at once both faithful and vic- 
torious. The army that was encamped here was but a handful, 
but what host ever defended so much ? And what spot of earth 



VALLEY FORGE. gg 

has had a farther reaching and happier influence on the human 
race than this ? 

Is it that which the traveller beholds when from Pentelicus 
he looks down on Marathon ? The life of Athens was short, 
and the liberty which was saved on that immortal field she 
gave up ingloriously more than twenty centuries ago. The 
tyranny she resisted so gallantly from without she practised 
cruelly at home. The sword which she wielded so well in her 
own defence she turned as readily against her children. Her 
civilization, brilliant as it was, was narrow, and her spirit selfish. 
The boundaries of her tiny state were, larger than her heart, 
whose sympathy could not include more than a part of her 
own kindred. Her aspirations were pent up in herself, and she 
stands in history to-day a prodigy of short-lived splendor, — a 
warning rather than example. Is it any one of those, where 
the men of the forest cantons fell on the invader like an ava- 
lanche from their native Alps and crushed him out of exist- 
ence ? The bravery of the Swiss achieved only a sterile inde- 
pendence, which his native mountains defended as well as he, 
and he tarnished his glory forever when the sword of Morgarten 
was hawked about the courts of Europe, and the victor of 
Grandson and Morat sold himself to the foreign shambles of 
the highest bidder. 

VALLEY FORGE AND WATERLOO. 

Or is it that still more famous field, where the Belgian lion 
keeps guard over the dead of three great nations ? There, 
three-and-sixty years ago yesterday, the armies of Europe met 
in conflict. It was the war of*giants. On the one side England, 
the first power of the age, flushed with victory, of inexhaustible 
resources, redoubtable by land and invincible by sea, and 
Prussia, vigorous by nature, strong by adversity, hardened by 
suffering, full of bitter memories and hungry for revenge, and 
on the other France, once mistress of the Continent, the arbiter 
of nations, the conquerer of Wagram and Marengo and Fried- 
land and Austerlitz, — spent at last in her own service, crushed 
rather by the weight of her victories than by the power of her 
enemies' arm, — turning in her bloody footsteps, like a wounded 
lion, to spring with redoubled fury at the throat of her pursuers. 



9 o 



VALLE Y FORGE. 



Behold the conflict as it raged through the long June day, 
while all the world listened and held its breath ! 

The long lines of red, the advancing columns of blue, the 
glitter of burnished steel, the roll of drums, the clangor of 
trumpets, the cheering of men, the fierce attack, the stubborn 
resistance, the slow recoil, the rattle of musketry, the renewed 
assault, the crash of arms, the roar of cannons, the clatter of 
the charging cavalry, the cries of the combatants, the clash of 
sabres, the shrieks of the dying, the confused retreat, the gal- 
lant rally, the final charge, the sickening repulse, the last strug- 
gle, the shouts of the victors, the screams of the vanquished, 
the wild confusion, the blinding smoke, the awful uproar, the 
unspeakable rout, the furious pursuit, the sounds fading in the 
distance, the groans of the wounded, the falling of the summer 
rain, the sighing of the evening breeze, the solemn silence of 
the night. Climb the steps that lead to the summit of the 
mound that marks that place to-day. There is no spot in 
Europe more famous than the field beneath your feet. In out- 
ward aspect it is not unlike this which we behold here. The 
hills are not so high nor the valleys so deep, but the general 
effect of field and farm, of ripening grain and emerald wood- 
land, is much the same. It has not been changed. There is 
the chateau of Houguomont on the west, and the forest through 
which the Prussians came on the east ; on yonder hill the 
Emperor watched the battle ; beneath you Ney made the last 
of many charges, — the world knows it all by heart. The 
traveller of every race turns toward it his footsteps. It is 
the most celebrated battle-field of Europe and of modern 
times. 

But what did that great victory accomplish ? It broke the 
power of one nation and asserted the independence of the rest 
It took from France an Emperor and gave her back a King, a 
ruler whom she had rejected in place of one whom she had 
chosen, a Bourbon for a Bonaparte, a King by Divine right for 
an Emperor by the people's will. It revenged the memory of 
Jena and Corunna, and broke the spell that made the fated 
name Napoleon the bond of an empire almost universal ; it 
struck down one great man and fixed a dozen small ones on 
the neck of Europe. But what did it bequeath to us beside 



VALLEY FORGE. Oj 

the ever-precious example of heroic deeds ? Nothing. What 
did they who conquered there achieve? Fame for themselves, 
woe for the vanquished, glory for England, revenge for Prussia, 
shame for France, nothing for humanity, nothing for liberty, 
nothing for civilization, nothing for the rights of man. One 
of the great Englishmen of that day declared that it had turned 
back the hands on the dial of the world's progress for fifty 
years. And, said an English poetess, — 

The Kings crept out again to feel the sun, 
The Kings crept out — the peoples sat at home, 
And finding the long-invocated peace, 
A pall embroidered with worn images 
Of rights divine, too scant to cover doom 
Such as they suffered — curst the corn that grew 
Rankly to bitter bread on Waterloo. 

My countrymen : — For a century the eyes of struggling na- 
tions have turned towards this spot, and lips in every language 
have blessed the memory of Valley Forge ! The tide of battle 
never ebbed and flowed upon these banks ; these hills never' 
trembled beneath the tread of charging squadrons nor echoed 
the thunders of contending cannon. The blood that stained 
this ground did not rush forth in the joyous frenzy of the 
fight ; it fell drop by drop from the heart of a suffering people. 
They who once encamped here in the snow fought not for 
conquest, not for power, not for glory, not for their country 
only, not for themselves alone. They served here for posterity; 
they suffered here for the human race; they bore here the cross 
of all the peoples ; they died here that freedom might be the 
heritage of all. It was humanity which they defended ; it was 
Liberty herself whom they had in keeping, — she that was 
sought in the wilderness and mourned for by the waters of 
Babylon, — that was saved at Salamis and thrown away at Chaer- 
onea, — that was fought for at Cannae and lost forever at Phar- 
salia and Philippi, — she who confronted the Armada on the 
deck with Howard and rode beside Cromwell on the field of 
Worcester, — for whom the Swiss gathered into his breast the 
sheaf of spears at Sempach and the Dutchman broke the dykes 
of Holland and welcomed in the sea, — she of whom Socrates 
spoke and Plato wrote and Brutus dreamed and Homer sung, 



02 VALLEY FORGE. 

— for whom Eliot pled and Sydney suffered and Milton prayed 
and Hampden fell ! Driven by the persecutions of centuries 
from ""he older world, she had come with Pilgrim and Puritan 
and Cavalier and Quaker to seek a shelter in the new. At- 
tacked once more by her old enemies, she had taken refuge 
here. Nor she alone. The dream of the Greek, the Hebrew's 
prophecy, the desire of the Roman, the Italian's prayer, the 
longing of the German mind, the hope of the French heart, 
the glory and honor of Old England herself, the yearning of 
all the centuries, the aspiration of every age, the promise of 
the past, the fulfilment of the future, the seed of the old time, 
the harvest of the new, — all these were with her. And here, 
in the heart of America, they were safe. The last of many 
struggles was almost won ; the best of many centuries was 
about to break ; the time was already come when from these 
shores the light of a new civilization should flash across the 
sea, and from this place a voice of triumph make the Old World 
tremble, when, from her chosen refuge in the West, the spirit 
of liberty should go forth to meet the rising sun and set the 
people free ! 

A HUNDRED YEARS. 

Americans : — A hundred years have passed away, and that 
civilization and that liberty are still your heritage. But think 
not that such an inheritance can be kept safe without exertion. 
It is the burden of your happiness that with it privilege and 
duty go hand-in-hand together. You cannot shirk the present 
and enjoy in the future the blessings of the past. Yesterday 
begot to-day, and to-day is the parent of to-morrow. The old 
time may be secure, but the new time is uncertain. The dead 
are safe ; it is the privilege of the living to be in peril. A 
country is benefited by great actions only so long as her chil- 
dren are able to repeat them. The memory of this spot shall 
be an everlasting honor for our fathers, but we can make it an 
eternal shame for ourselves if we choose to do so. The glory 
of Lexington and Bunker Hill and Saratoga and Valley Forge 
belongs not to you and me, but we can make it ours if we will. 
It is well for us to keep these anniversaries of great events ; 
it is well for us to meet by thousands on these historic spots; 
it is well to walk by those unknown graves and follow the 



VALLE Y FORGE. 



93 



windings of the breastworks that encircle yonder hill ; it is well 
for us to gather beneath yon little fort, which the storms of so 
many winters have tenderly spared to look down on us to-day ; 
it is well to commemorate the past with song and eulogy and 
pleasant festival, — but it is not enough. 

If they could return whose forms have been passing in imag- 
ination before our eyes ; if in the presence of this holy hour 
the dead could rise and lips dumb for a century find again a 
tongue, might they not say to us : You do well, countrymen, 
to commemorate this time; you do well to honor those who 
yielded up their lives in glory here. Theirs was a perfect sacri- 
fice, and the debt you owe them you can never pay. Your lines 
have fallen in a happier time. The boundaries of your Union 
stretch from sea to sea. You enjoy all the blessings which 
Providence can bestow, — a peace we never knew, a wealth we 
never hoped for, a power of which we never dreamed. Yet 
think not that these things only can make a nation great. We 
laid the foundation of your happiness in a time of trouble, in 
days of sorrow and perplexity, of doubt, distress, and danger, 
of cold and hunger, of suffering and want. We built it up by 
virtue, by courage, by self-sacrifice, by unfailing patriotism, by 
unceasing vigilance. By those things alone did we win your 
liberties ; by them only can you hope to keep them. Do you 
revere our names ? Then follow our example. Are you proud 
of our achievements? Then try to imitate them. Do you honor 
our memories ? Then do as we have done. You owe some- 
thing to America better than all those things which you spread 
before her with such lavish hand, — something which she needs 
as much in her prosperity to-day as ever in the sharpest crisis 
of her fate, — yourselves ! For you have duties to perform as 
well as we. It was ours to create ; it is yours to preserve. It 
was ours to found ; it is yours to perpetuate. It was ours to 
organize; it is yours to purify! And what nobler spectacle 
can you present to mankind to-day than that of a people honest, 
steadfast, and secure, — mindful of the lessons of experience, — 
true to the teachings of history, — led by the loftiest examples, 
and bound together to protect their institutions at the close of 
the century, as their fathers were to win them at the beginning, 
by the ties of "Virtue, Honor, and Love of Country," — by that 



94 



VALLEY FORGE. 



virtue which makes perfect the happiness of a people, — by that 
honor which constitutes the chief greatness of a State, — by that 
patriotism which survives all things, braves all things, endures 
all things, achieves all things, and which, though it find a refuge 
nowhere else, should live in the heart of every true American ? 

My countrymen : — The century that has gone by has changed 
the face of nature and wrought a revolution in the habits of 
mankind. We stand to-day at the dawn of an extraordinary 
age. Freed from the chains of ancient thought and supersti- 
tion, man has begun to win the most extraordinary victories 
in the domain of science. One by one he has dispelled the 
doubts of the ancient world. Nothing is too difficult for his 
hand to attempt, — no region too remote, — no place too sacred 
for his daring eye to penetrate. He has robbed the earth of 
her secrets, and sought to solve the mysteries of the heavens ! 
He has secured and chained to his service the elemental 
forces of nature ; he has made the fire his steed ; the winds his 
ministers ; the seas his pathway ; the lightning his messenger. 
He has descended into the bowels of the earth, and walked in 
safety on the bottom of the sea. He has raised his head above 
the clouds, and made the impalpable air his resting-place. He 
has tried to analyze the stars, count the constellations, and 
weigh the sun. He has advanced with such astounding speed 
that, breathless, we have reached a moment when it seems as 
if distance had been annihilated, time made as naught, the in- 
visible seen, the inaudible heard, the unspeakable spoken, the 
intangible felt, the impossible accomplished. And already we 
knock at the door of a new century which promises to be infi- 
nitely brighter and more enlightened and happier than this. But 
in all this blaze of light which illuminates the present and casts 
its reflection into the distant recesses of the past, there is not a 
single ray that shoots into the future. Not one step have we 
taken toward the solution of the mystery of life. That remains 
to-day as dark and unfathomable as it was ten thousand years 
ago. 

We know that we are more fortunate than our fathers. We 
believe that our children shall be happier than we. We know 
that this century is more enlightened than the last. We believe 
that the time to come will be better and more glorious than 



VALLE Y FORGE. 



95 



this. We think, we believe, we hope, but we do not know. 
Across that threshold we may not pass; behind that veil we 
may not penetrate. Into that country it may not be for us to 
go. It may be vouchsafed for us to behold it, wonderingly, 
from afar, but never to enter it. It matters not. The age in 
which we live is but a link in the endless and eternal chain. 
Our lives are like the sands upon the shore ; our voices like 
the breath of this summer breeze that stirs the leaf for a 
moment and is forgotten. Whence we have come and whither 
we shall go not one of us can tell. And the last survivor of 
this mighty multitude shall stay but a little while. 

But in the impenetrable To be, the endless generations are 
advancing to take our places as we fall. For them as for us 
shall the earth roll on, and the seasons come and go, the snow- 
flakes fall, the flowers bloom, and the harvests be gathered in. 
For them as for us shall the sun, like the life of man, rise out of 
darkness in the morning and sink into darkness in the night. 
For them as for us shall the years march by in the sublime 
procession of the ages. And here, in this place of sacrifice, in this 
vale of humiliation, in this valley of the Shadow of that Death out 
of which the Life of America arose, regenerate and free, let us 
believe with an abiding faith that to them Union will seem as 
dear, and Liberty as sweet, and Progress as glorious as they 
were to our fathers, and are to you and me, and that the insti- 
tutions which have made us happy, preserved by the virtue of 
our children, shall bless the remotest generations of the time 
to come. And unto Him who holds in the hollow of His 
hand the fate of nations, and yet marks the sparrow's fall, let 
us lift up our hearts this day, and into His eternal care com- 
mend ourselves, our children, and our country. 



9 6 



VALLEY FORGE. 



DEDICATION. 



At the meeting of the " Centennial Association of Valley 
Forge," held Feb. 22, 1878, the committee on " Memorial De- 
sign and Erection" reported in favor of purchasing the house 
in which General George Washington had his headquarters 
during the encampment at Valley Forge, and suggested a plan 
to raise the necessary funds to secure the property. This plan 
was the appointment of a Lady Regent, who could call to her 
aid as many Vice-Regents as she might in her discretion deem 
best. This report was favorably received, and at the next 
meeting Mrs. Anna M. Holstein was selected to fill the position 
of Lady Regent. 

Mrs. Holstein, from the time of her appointment to this im- 
portant position, worked arduously, and associated with herself 
a number of energetic and patriotic ladies in different sections 
of the State and nation. 

The courts of Montgomery County, upon the necessary 
application having been made, granted a charter to the " Cen- 
tennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge" on the 
5th day of July, 1878. The work of the ladies was crowned 
with success, and on the 10th day of May, 1879, the sum 
of three thousand dollars was paid, being half of the con- 
sideration money, and the title passed to the association. At 
once preparations were made for the dedication of the building, 
and the old association again volunteered to aid and assist the 
ladies in their laudable efforts. A committee of three, consist- 
ing of Colonel N. M. Ellis, A. S. Hallman, and J. P. Hale 
Jenkins, was appointed to confer with Michael Nesbit, Grand 
Master of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, to procure their services in the laying of the corner-stone. 
Mr. Nesbit at once gave his hearty consent, and the most pleas- 
ant feature of the 19th of June, 1879, was tne laying of the 
corner-stone by that fraternity of whom Washington and 
Lafayette were members. 



VALLEY FORGE. 



97 



Another feature of this day was the rifle match for the gold 
medal offered by the association. Six teams competed for the 
prize, the victorious team being the Pennsylvania, of Phila- 
delphia. 

The Sixth Regiment N. G. P. were on" the grounds, having 
volunteered to do guard duty, and were under the command 
of Major H. S. Smith, General W. J. Bolton being the chief- 
marshal for the day. 

The morning of the 19th of June, 1879, was clear, and gave 
promise of the beautiful day that followed. At sunrise a 
section of the Griffin Battery had taken their position on the 
grounds, and waked the country round about with their morn- 
ing-gun. The tents of the soldiery and riflemen shone clear 
in the bright June sun, and moving people at early dawn gave 
promise of the crowd which afterward thronged the old hills. 
The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company again showed 
their interest and solicitude in the welfare of the enterprise, and 
by judicious management unloaded thousands at the grounds. A 
fair estimate fixed the number at one-fourth the crowd of last year. 

Until ten o'clock the assembling multitude loitered around 
the building, the centre of attractions, being handsomely decor- 
ated with the national emblems. Every one desired to see the 
room in which the headquarters were kept; all desired to see 
the private receptacle used by Washington for his papers, and 
extreme good feeling prevailed. 

As the hour of ten drew near, the railroad approaches were 
watched, and a few minutes after the arrival of the special train 
from Philadelphia the Grand Master of the Free and Accepted 
Masons of the State of Pennsylvania, with his array of assist- 
ants, at once proceeded to perform the impressive ceremonies, 
the celebration of which had called the multitude together. 
The ceremony was as follows : 

Instrumental Music. 
The Right Worshipful Grand Master directed the Grand Officers to take their 
appropriate stations and places. 

The President of the Association presided. 
The Grand Marshal proclaimed 

Silence 1 Silence ! Silence ! 
(The Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master then addressed the Right Wor- 
shipful Grand Master :) 

7 



9 8 



VALLEY FORGE. 



Right Worshipful Sir, — The Valley Forge Centennial and Memorial Associa- 
tion has requested you to perform the ceremony of laying a Corner-Stone. The 
necessary arrangements having been made, I have now the pleasure to present to 
you the President of the Association. 

(The President addressed the Right Worshipful Grand Master:) 
Right Worshipful Sir, — The Committee charged with the duty of preparing the 
Corner-Stone have completed their labors, and it is now ready to be laid. 
(The Right Worshipful Grand Master replied.) 

Mr. President, — Thanking the Association represented by you for the honor 
paid the Craft, in the invitation to the Right Worshipful Grand Lodge of Penn- 
sylvania to lay the Corner-Stone, we shall now proceed to perform that duty, 
according to our ancient usages and customs. 
(Invocation by the Grand Chaplain :) 

O, Thou Supreme Architect of the Universe, in Thy name we assemble upon 
this day, and we lift our hands and our hearts unto Thee, O Creator and Father. 
Deign to look upon us from the throne of Thy majesty, even upon us, the unworthy 
supplicants of Thy favor. Thou hast taught us to look unto Thee in the under- 
takings of life ; to count upon Thy help " in every laudable enterprise." We invoke 
Thy presence. We invoke Thy blessing upon the work of our hands to-day. 

We beseech Thee, our God, let Thy blessing continue upon our nation and 
Commonwealth. Bless the President of these United States, the Governor of this 
great State, the Legislative and Judicial officers of the land and nation, and all 
who are united with them in authority. May they all be men of God, in whom 
Thou canst find delight, and by whom Thou wilt bring upon the people great 
prosperity. 

And now, O Great Architect of the Universe, remember Thy servants who have 
been called to the performance of the important duties now devolving upon them. 
Lend Thine aid and bestow Thy benediction upon the Association at whose 
instance the ceremonies of this day are to be performed. 

O, Thou Sovereign Architect of the Universe, have respect unto the prayer of 
Thy servant, and to his supplication, and enkindle, we beseech Thee, in our hearts 
a flame of true devotion and reverence for Thee, brotherly kindness to each other, 
and charity to all mankind. 

And to Thee, the one only living and true God, we will ascribe all power and 
majesty and dominion now and evermore, world without end. Amen. 
(Response by the brethren :) 

Amen. So mote it be. Amen. 
(The Right Worshipful Grand Master then directed the Right Worshipful Grand 
Treasurer to place the documents, coins, and other valuable articles in the Corner- 
Stone. 

The Right Worshipful Grand Treasurer having deposited the articles in the box 
placed in the cavity of the Corner-Stone, addressed the Right Worshipful Grand 
Master :) 

Right Worshipful Sir, — The coins and other valuable presents set apart to be 
placed in the Corner-Stone, are now duly deposited there; and your directions 
have been faithfully obeyed. 

(The Right Worshipful Grand Master then directed the Right Worshipful Grand 
Secretary to read a list of the articles so deposited.) 



VALLEY FOR GE. gg 



Instrumental Music. 

(The Right Worshipful Grand Master then addressed the Right Worshipful 
Deputy Grand Master:) 

Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, — It is my will and pleasure that the 
Corner-Stone be now laid. You will announce the same to the Right Worshipful 
Senior Grand Warden, that he may announce it to the Right Worshipful Junior 
Grand Warden, with directions to proclaim the same to the brethren, that all 
present may govern themselves accordingly. 

(The Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master then addressed the Right Wor- 
shipful Senior Grand Warden :) 

Right Worshipful Senior Grand Warden, — It is the Right Worshipful Grand 
Master's will and pleasure that the Corner-Stone be now laid. You will announce 
the same to the Right Worshipful Junior Grand Warden, with directions to pro- 
claim the same to the brethren, that all present may govern themselves accordingly. 

(The Right Worshipful Senior Grand Warden then addressed the Right Wor- 
shipful Junior Grand Warden :) 

Right Worshipful Junior Grand Warden, — It is the Right Worshipful Grand 
Master's will and pleasure that the Corner-Stone be now laid. You will proclaim 
the same to the brethren, that all present may govern themselves accordingly. 

(The Right Worshipful Junior Grand Warden proclaimed :) 

Brethren, — -Take notice, it is the Right Worshipful Grand Master's will and 
pleasure that the Corner-Stone be now laid. You will therefore govern yourselves 
accordingly. 

(The Right Worshipful Grand Master then addressed the Right Worshipful 
Deputy Grand Master:) 

Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, — You will see that the Craftsmen have 
well and truly prepared the Corner-Stone to be laid by me. 

(The Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master then proceeded to the stone, taking 
with him the square, tested it, and tried it, returned to his station, and said :) 

Right Worshipful Grand Master, — I find the Corner-Stone Tried and True, 
Trusty and Square, and that the Craftsmen have worked well. 

(The Right Worshipful Grand Master then said :) 

Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, Right Worshipful Senior Grand 
Warden, and Right Worshipfttl Junior Grand Warden, — You will proceed to 
the Corner-Stone, while the workmen and laborers are laying it in its proper posi- 
tion, at the northeast angle of the building : you will try it with the Plumb, Level, 
and Square, and report to us if it is well and duly prepared. 

(The Grand Officers proceeded as directed.) 

The Corner-Stone was then placed in its proper position. 

(The Junior Grand Warden tried it with the plumb, and said :) 

Right Worshipful Deptity Grand Master, — I find the Corner-Stone Plumb : and 
returned to his station. 

(The Senior Grand Warden tried it with the level, and said :) 

Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, — I find the Corner-Stone Level : and 
returned to his station. 

(The Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master tried it with the square, return 
to his station, and said :) 



IO o VALLEY FORGE. 

Right Worshipful Grand Master, — I find the Corner-Stone to be Plumb, Level, 
and Square, and that the Grand Officers have approved the work. 

Instrumental Music. 

(The Senior and Junior Grand Deacons then proceeded to the Corner-Stone, the 
Senior Grand Deacon carrying the gavel, and the Junior Grand Deacon carrying 
the trowel. 

The Right Worshipful Grand Master, preceded by the Grand Marshal and the 
Grand Sword-Bearer,' then proceeded to the Corner-Stone, taking the trowel from 
the Junior Grand Deacon, and having spread the cement, the covering stone was 
fixed in its place by the workmen. He then took the gavel from the Senior Grand 
Deacon, and striking the Corner-Stone three times therewith, returned to his station. 
The other Grand Officers returned to their places. The Grand Master then said:) 

We, Michael Nisbet, Grand Master of Masons in Pennsylvania and Masonic 
jurisdiction thereunto belonging, declare the Corner-Stone of this building, formerly 
occupied by our Brother George Washington, and to be maintained with its land 
and improvements thereon as a Memorial Park for all time to come, duly laid 
according to the Ancient Usages, Customs, and Landmarks of Freemasonry, and 
may the Great Architect of Heaven and Earth bless his work, and make it 
memorable to the latest generations ! 

Instrumental Music. 

(The Grand Stewards then proceeded to the Corner-Stone, one bearing the 
vessel containing the Corn, the other the vessels containing the Wine and Oil. 

The Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, with the Right Worshipful Grand 
Wardens, then proceeded to the Corner-Stone, and the Grand Steward, presenting 
to the Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master the vessel containing the Corn, he 
dropped the corn on the stone, and said :) 

May plenty be showered down on the people of this ancient Commonwealth, 
and may the labors of the Craft be refreshed by the Great Giver of every good and 
perfect gift ! 

(The Grand Steward then presented the Wine to the Right Worshipful Senior 
Grand Warden, who poured it on the stone, and said :) 

May the health of the Craftsmen employed by this Association be preserved to 
them, and may the Supreme Architect bless and prosper their labors ! 

(The Grand Steward then presented the Oil to the Right Worshipful Junior 
Grand Warden, who dropped oil on the stone, and said :) 

May the Supreme Ruler of the World vouchsafe unity, peace, and prosperity to 
the people of Pennsylvania, and to the nations of the earth ; preserve and protect 
the Fraternity of Freemasons; make the virtues of the Craft a lesson to the world, 
and the labors of the Craftsmen easy, and their burdens light! 

(The Grand Officers then returned to their stations and places.) 

Instrumental Music. 
(The Grand Marshal then proclaimed :) 

Silence ! Silence ! Silence ! 



VALLEY FORGE. 101 

Brethren, — Take notice, that Brother Michael Nisbet, Right Worshipful Grand 
Master of Masons in Pennsylvania, and Masonic jurisdiction thereunto belonging, 
has this day, at this place, laid this Corner-Stone. 

(Repeated three times, and after the third time added :) 

Wisdom! Strength! Fraternity! 

Benediction by the Grand Chaplain. 

" Grand Hallelujah Chorus" Handel. 

Upon the conclusion of the above ceremony, and while the 
gentlemen who took part therein were registering their names, 
the salute of the Griffin Battery called the people to the hill, 
where, on the picnic grounds, the Ringgold Cornet Band of 
Reading and the Valley Forge Chorus, under the leadership of 
Prof. Jno. O. K. Robarts, were enlivening the occasion by vocal 
and instrumental music. After a little delay, J. P. Hale Jenkins, 
Esq., announced the following organization : 

President. — Hon. J. Smith Futhey. 

Vice-Presidents. — Isaac W. Smith, Charles Hunsicker, M. S. 
Sellers, I. Heston Todd, N. M. Ellis, M. S. Longaker, Fred- 
erick Lane, Wm. M. Greiner, Jacob F. Quillman, B. K. Jami- 
son, Isaac Hoyer, Joseph B. Hancock, Samuel Butler, Jas. G. 
McQuaide, Amos Gartside, and Stanley Lees. 

Secretaries. — John W. Eckman, J. P. Hale Jenkins, Dr. David 
Schrack, Frank C. Hooten, F. S. Beerer, John Pugh, and Lewis 
H. Davis. 

Upon taking the Chair, Judge Futhey said : 

On the 19th of December, 1777, at the close of an unsuccess- 
ful campaign, the patriot army of the Revolution, foot-sore and 
weary, encamped upon these hills. 

In the rude huts erected by them they remained during a 
winter which proved to be one of unusual severity, enduring 
untold suffering and privation. It was the darkest hour of the 
Revolution. The British, flushed with victory, were revelling 
in plenty in the capital city, and considered the rebellion — as 
they termed it — substantially at an end. 

The patriots had just suffered a reverse at Brandy wine and 
at Germantown, and their hopes seemed crushed to the earth. 

Yet amidst all their hardships and discouragements they had 



IQ 2 VALLEY FORGE. 

faith that their cause was just, and firmly believed that it would 
eventually triumph. This belief sustained them in the severe 
trials to which they were subjected, and they patiently waited 
until they could enter anew upon the field of strife for the cause 
of freedom. 

Their beloved commander, who saw, through the gloom 
which environed them, as in a vision, the brightness of the fu- 
ture, remained with them, cheering them by his presence, en- 
couraging them with words of hope, sympathizing with them 
in their distresses, and, as far as it was in his power, relieving 
and alleviating their sufferings. 

On the 19th of June, 1778, one hundred and one years ago 
to-day, they left these hills and with renewed energy entered 
upon the conflict which eventually ended in the establishment 
of the freedom of the colonies. 

Yonder building, the habitation of Washington during those 
months of trial, has, in the providence of God, amidst the 
changes wrought by time, which have obliterated so many of 
the landmarks of the Revolution, been permitted to stand, and 
has to-day, after the lapse of over a century, been dedicated 
with appropriate ceremonies, a monument to the loyalty and 
devotion of the brave band of patriots who here, in cold and 
hunger, watched for the coming of the dawn of a better day. 
Let us indulge the hope that it may long remain, — a fountain 
to which the people of our beloved land may ever turn and 
drink inspiration from the memories with which it is associated, 
and which cluster around and about it. 

Upon the conclusion of Judge Futhey's remarks, ex-Gov- 
ernor James Pollock was introduced as the orator of the day, 
he having kindly consented at the last moment to take the 
place of Senator James F. Bayard, of Delaware, who had been 
selected as the orator. 

Ex-Governor Pollock spoke as follows: 

My Fellow-Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Wandering through the imperial palace of Versailles, the 
Doge of Genoa was asked by Louis XIV. of France what, 
amid all the magnificence and splendor that surrounded him, 



VALLEY FORGE. 



I03 



most excited his wonder and admiration. He replied, " I ad- 
mire all that I see ; but the greatest wonder is to find myself 
here." Like the Doge of Genoa, I am surprised to find myself 
in this place and presence, before this immense audience, on 
such an occasion full of heroic memories, of thrilling incident, 
of suffering, sacrifice, and grand achievement. My wonder is 
only equalled by your surprise and disappointment. But let 
not the disappointment we all feel mar the memorial services of 
the hour, or check the emotions of patriotism that should now 
fill every loyal heart. 

With our honored president, Judge Futhey, I regret the ab- 
sence of Senator Bayard, who was announced to address you. 
He is not here; is absent unavoidably, official duties requiring 
his attendance at Washington. Although differing politically, 
there is no gentleman connected with the administration of our 
government for whom I entertain a higher personal regard. 
He stands above the ordinary politician, — a statesman, not a 
partisan, — a man whose convictions of duty lift him above party 
considerations; and who, in the presence of the American peo- 
ple, prompted by intelligent and conscientious convictions on 
important national questions, dares to say to partisan dictation 
and caucus decrees, " I will not obey. I cannot compromise my 
manhood by submission. I will act as duty may direct." I regret 
he is not here. As a scholar and orator he would have given you 
an address full of patriotic thought and sentiment, of the prac- 
tical and the real, and worthy the object that brought us here. 

I feel that I have been guilty of great temerity in accepting, 
and that conditionally, an invitation by telegraph, on two days' 
notice, to take (not fill) his place ; and only on yesterday the 
final and positive notice that my services would be required 
was received. 

In full sympathy with the " Valley Forge Centennial Me- 
morial Association," — feeling the inspiration that lives and 
moves amid these hills and valleys, springing from every hil- 
lock and mound and now deserted entrenchment, — rejoicing in 
all that has been accomplished for liberty and humanity, for 
American nationality and manhood, through trials and suffer- 
ings, — appreciating the patience and labor, the daring energy, 
and the unconquerable valor of the brave men who, " in the 



104 



VALLEY FORGE. 



time that tried men's souls," stood firm in defence of " the great 
and essential principles of liberty and free government;" who 
dared to do, and in doing won freedom for America, and 
stamped an immortality on their own names and made their 
praises glorious as their victories, — inspired by these feelings, 
duty and pleasure alike enforcing the request, I accepted the 
invitation, and am here. 

I do not propose to entertain you with a profound oration 
— the creation of labored thought by the light of the midnight 
lamp. Time did not permit the preparation of such an address. 
What I utter now must be from the inspiration of the hour, 
intensified by the surroundings within our vision, and crowded 
with undying memories. 

In the roll of ages we have reached the year Anno Domini 
1879, — one century, and the initial year of the second, since 
Washington and his army, after a winter of suffering unpar- 
alleled in the history of military operations, after a season of 
depression, despondency, and despair, and after a triumphant 
enemy had waited for opportunity to crush the men who had 
written with their own blood on the snows of that fearful win- 
ter their devotion to the cause of their country, moved from 
these " Headquarters" and set in motion that grand series of 
victories that culminated in the surrender of Cornwallis at 
Yorktown and the establishment of American Independence. 

Then and now! How changed the scene! Then, thirteen 
States lately in confederation; now, thirty-eight States in union; 
then, three millions of population ; nozv, fifty millions ; then, 
the Atlantic on the east, and the Alleghanies on the west, were 
the boundary and bars of our country and its civilization ; now, 
the Atlantic on the east, the Pacific on the west, the northern 
lakes and southern gulf measure our extent and limit our 
national sovereignty. Then, the broad, illimitable West, with 
its mighty rivers, ocean lakes, its mountains, and its prairies, 
was undiscovered, unknown ; the wild Indian its inhabitant, his 
lodge its architecture, his wigwam its temple and dome ; now, 
discovery, population, civilization have conquered this wild 
waste. The Rocky Mountains, with their fifteen hundred miles 
of base and fifteen thousand feet of height; the Sierra Nevadas, 
with their gigantic forms lifting their proud heads to the 



VALLEY FORGE. 



IOS 



heavens, their wondrous canyons, with their temples, domes, 
cathedrals, towers, and turrets carved by the hand of nature 
from the solid rock ; the gold and silver of California and the 
Pacific coast; the prairies, with their millions of acres of fertile 
soil, yielding millions of bushels of wheat, corn, and other 
cereals; these, all these, and much more are within our knowl- 
edge, claim our attention, invite our industry and investigation, 
and make us in material wealth and territorial extent one of 
the first nations of the earth. But time would fail to tell our 
progress and advance : of knowledge progressive ; of science 
aggressive ; truth triumphant ; of our government conservative 
and protective ; of man as the citizen ; as personally free and 
master of the State ; as ruler and ruled ; governing and gov- 
erned by laws of his own making, — the will of the people the 
supreme law, our government being the embodiment of indi- 
vidual power and influence in the simple forms of our social 
and political order, compressed and expressed in our State and 
National constitutions. 

Standing here to-day, proud of our advancing civilization and 
greatness, whilst rejoicing, let us not forget our obligation to 
the heroes of the past, — to those who " pledged and dared all 
to conquer and to save;" to those whose memories we honor; 
and, more than all, let us remember and acknowledge our 
gratitude and obligation to Him who sustained our forefathers 
in the midst of trial, suffering, and death, — to that " God who 
made and preserves us a nation." 

And now — the past in memory around us ; the present in the 
fulness of its advancing civilization ours ; labor, art, science in 
happy union, giving energy to action, stimulating progress, and 
fostering yet grander achievements — shall I go back one hun- 
dred and one years, and call the roll of the heroes of Valley 
Forge ? — of those who here formed part of the " Grand Army" 
of the Revolution ; grand in fact, grand in results, grand in 
history ? The roll ! history has preserved it. Let me call it : 
" George Washington." No answer. Not here to-day. One 
hundred and one years ago, and the answer to that call, " Here !" 
would have echoed and re-echoed through and over these hills 
and plains. Washington is not here. His spirit is here, and 
yonder in a brighter world. Mount Vernon, in his beloved 



io 6 VALLEY FORGE. 

Virginia, holds all that is mortal of one whose name and fame 
are immortal. Time, in ceaseless flow, may move on; nations 
rise and fall ; tyrants may appear, rule with iron sceptres, bind 
their subjects in chains, be overthrown and perish ; but the 
march of freedom is onward, freemen in command and in the 
ranks, freedom the inspiration, honor and truth the rule, our 
country's good the end; and heading the column, directing the 
march, and inspiring with energy and devotion his followers, is 
the man, — the name first called in this honored roll, " Washing- 
ton," — itself the epitome of unblemished honor and undying 
fame. Now let us call the other noble men, the friends and as- 
sociates of Washington. " General Knox," " General Greene," 
" General Lee" (Light-Horse Harry Lee), Generals Sullivan, 
Armstrong, Smallwood, Warren, and Hamilton, brave men and 
true, — brave in the midst of famine, poverty, and distress ; brave 
hearts in weary bodies, covered by ragged and soiled garments. 
Where are they ? Let history answer, and let " a strong nation 
and people" do honor to their memory. And last, not least, 
General Wayne, our own " Mad Anthony," — mad in and for 
the right ; mad to defend the right ; mad to lead the daring 
charge, the forlorn hope ; mad to conquer his and his country's 
enemies ; so mad he never knew defeat, never quailed before 
danger or feared an enemy. Such madness was true bravery, 
wisdom, and light in the gloom of that dark hour. Our time 
will not permit us to call the roll of every honored name. 
Their record is sure, their memory and fame have not perished. 
There is another class of heroes, worthy of all honor and 
praise. Who and where are they ? Not the men who bore 
commissions and wore the epaulets ; not those whose names 
were sounded loudest in the trumpet of fame. No; these are 
not the heroes we now call. Where are the private soldiers, 
the rank and file, the aggregated strength of the army, the 
noble men who died unknown to fame, who sleep in un- 
marked graves ? Unknown, but honored ; their valor, worth, 
and work known and approved. Forever honored be the brave 
private soldier of those memorable years. If my voice could 
reach the graves in which you sleep, I would tell, in language 
eloquent for its truth, that your fame shall never perish nor your 
deeds of valor be forgotten, although your names be unknown 



VALLEY FORGE. 



107 



and your graves unmarked by stone or monument. America, 
in her freedom, nationality, and power, is your monument. Her 
people will forever honor your memory. 

Valley Forge ! Historic name, associated with the greatest 
names and noblest deeds of our country's history. Every acre, 
every inch of ground sacred, baptized with patriot blood and 
consecrated to freedom. How and why came Washington and 
his army here ? Did he come flushed with the triumph of vic- 
tory? Did he bring with him a conquered enemy? Had the 
" battle of the warrior, with its confused noise and garments 
rolled in blood," ceased ? Oh, no ! He came not victorious, 
but unconquered. He came in the full impulse of patriotism, 
as developed on battle-fields, not of victory, but defeat. He 
came after he had nobly attempted to save Philadelphia from 
her foes, and her citizens from threatened destruction. Clinton 
and Howe were in command of the forces of the enemy. 
Flushed with victory, and fearless of defeat, they followed the 
patriot army, resolved to crush both it and the hope of America 
for liberty and independence. Howe was now in Philadelphia. 
The battles of Brandywine and Germantown had been fought, 
grand in their results, although defeat was ours ; and after the 
subsequent battle at White Marsh — a place of battle, but not 
of victory — Washington and his army came here, " cast down, 
but not destroyed ; perplexed, but not forsaken ;" hope painted 
on the clouds and in the darkness the rainbow of promise, and 
threw upon them the light of coming brighter days. Defeat does 
not always mean disaster and ruin, — an evil without a remedy. 
Lessons of wisdom, prudence, caution, with new and high resolve, 
are ofttimes learned in defeat. There was developed a military 
power and prowess at Germantown that encouraged the people 
and army, and fired them with new energy. Defeat rouses the 
brave and spurs them on to duty and to triumph. Brandywineand 
Germantown, both within our own borders and part of our good 
old Commonwealth, witnessed defeat, but to-day are monuments 
of victory, of energy developed and courage sustained; and al- 
though defeat followed the battle, victory has followed defeat. 
These battle-fields witnessed acts of heroism that perhaps no other 
battle-fields in our nation have ever surpassed, and demonstrated 
the endurance and invincible courage of the Continental soldiers- 



I0 3 VALLEY FORGE. 

The retreat to Valley Forge was a military necessity. De- 
cember 1 1, 1777, Washington took possession of this place with 
the army, and occupied the stone house beyond us as his head- 
quarters. The condition of the army during that memorable 
winter, as told in the recital of the sufferings and trials of offi- 
cers and men, fills the heart with sadness, but intensifies our 
admiration of the patience, courage, and patriotism that enabled 
them to endure such great sorrows. Washington, full of sym- 
pathy for the suffering men, was often seen encouraging them by 
his presence and example, speaking kind words to and taking 
by the hand the private soldier whose blood stained the snow 
upon which his bleeding feet made their impress, — at once the 
evidence of pain and patience, of conscience and courage in the 
discharge of duty. Sympathy for the poor, the humble, and 
the suffering is not inconsistent with that nobility of soul that 
makes and marks true manhood. Washington was a man in 
the full significance of that term ; and in the exercise of every 
manly virtue, in the overflowing of his sympathies for his suf- 
fering soldiers, for the poor and distressed, he gave to us and 
all who revere his name an example of true dignity in happy 
union with graceful simplicity. 

What a lesson of patriotism and devotion to principle does 
Valley Forge and its suffering army of 1777-78 furnish us! 
Poverty and patriotism; rags and resolution; bold, determined 
men writing upon the snows and ice of winter as their parch- 
ment, in their own blood, their deeds of valor and renown ! 
Heroic suffering in their country's cause made these men 
heroes. Valley Forge will forever be associated with Wash- 
ington and his army, — the men who perilled all to make our 
country free, and triumphed in success. 

To-day was re-laid, with impressive Masonic ceremonies, the 
corner-stone of " Washington's Headquarters." The old stone 
house, unchanged in appearance and arrangement, the same 
now as in 1778, is here. In it some of the old-time furniture 
used by Washington, the room in which his secret correspond- 
ence was carried on, and the chest in which it was kept, may 
yet be seen. The rooms in which the councils of war were held, 
and in which were planned the movements of the army in the 
coming campaigns, are there ; and from which also he looked 



VALLEY FORGE. 



IO9 



through the gloom that surrounded him, and, with faith un- 
dimmed, saw the brightness of a better day dawning upon us. 
The vision was realized ; despair gave place to hope, failure to 
success, defeat to victory. Having planned the battle at Mon- 
mouth, and provided for an onward movement against the 
enemy, Washington and his army, on the 19th day of June, 
1778, just one hundred and one years ago, left these scenes to 
conquer victory and peace. 

On the memorable plains of Monmouth he met the enemy, — 
the oppressed against the oppressor — liberty against tyranny. 
The right conquered might, and victory was ours. Victory fol- 
lowed victory, culminating gloriously in the surrender of Corn- 
wallis at Yorktown, the treaty of peace with England, and the 
recognition of our independence. Thus this nation, redeemed 
from oppression and wrong, stands to-day, in her independence 
and nationality, a monument, under God, to the glory and 
renown of Washington and his associate heroes. 

Look around you ! On these hills the soldiers were encamped, 
— here a fortification, there an entrenchment; here the shop of 
the blacksmith, there the armory; here the hospital, there the 
graves of the unknown dead. In yonder wood, away from the 
excitements and sorrows of the camp, Washington kneeled in 
humble, earnest prayer, to his and our nation's God. In faith he 
asked ; his prayers were heard — a nation saved and free the 
answer. Washington was great, but not too great to recognize 
his and our country's dependence upon his Creator, Saviour, 
and God. 

Other memories are with us now ; of events prior to, and 
contemporaneous with, the occupation of Valley Forge, influ- 
encing and aiding the accomplishment of the great results of 
the Revolution. The occupation of Philadelphia at this time 
necessitated the removal of the Continental Congress from that 
city to Lancaster, and subsequently to York, Pennsylvania. 
The effect of these removals was at first disastrous to the finan- 
cial condition of the country, depressing and reducing our na- 
tional credit so low that doubts were created in the minds of 
many loyal men of ultimate success in our pending struggle for 
independence. But from depression came reaction. Courage 
is often born of danger, and power to overcome developed in 



no 



VALLEY FORGE. 



proportion to the magnitude of the opposing forces. So now: 
fear and depression first; then hope, determination, triumph. 

Another depressing and disgraceful incident occurred at this 
time. Washington, the trusted and the honored commander- 
in-chief, had his enemies. They envied his superiority and 
hated the excellence they could not reach. Faction, secretly 
and maliciously encouraged by General Gates, endeavored by 
intrigue to impair the confidence of Congress and the people 
in his integrity and ability : and this intrigue, strengthened by 
other disappointed men, whose ambition was near allied to 
treason, culminated in what is known in history as the " Con- 
way Cabal." Their object was to degrade Washington and 
cause him to be removed from his high position as the leader 
and commander-in-chief of our armies. The conspiracy failed, 
for the intrigue could not endure the disgrace and contempt of 
its discovery, and slander was dumb in the presence of truth 
and virtue. Congress interposed ; the charges, in all their 
phases, personal and official, were fully investigated, and re- 
sulted in a triumphant acquittal. If to be assailed and slan- 
dered is evidence of guilt, then Washington was a bad man. 
But no. Slander is falsehood encased in malice, and claim- 
ing to be truth. It proves the baseness of the slanderer, and 
brightens the reputation of the slandered. No man of high 
moral principle, of positive convictions and stern integrity, can 
claim exemption from the assaults of envy and malice. Alas ! 
how often in our day, in the midst of partisan strife and bitter- 
ness, do we see good men and true assailed by corrupt and 
mercenary hirelings, by a subsidized press, — by men who, having 
no reputation of their own to lose, endeavor by falsehood and 
base insinuation to drag down to their own corrupt and vulgar 
level all who, in honorable and true manhood, stand high above 
them, — the very brightness of the character of the assailed re- 
vealing the blackness and degradation of their assailants. Wash- 
ington was slandered, but, unhurt and unharmed, his fame is 
brighter than before. His slanderers are dead, dying with " the 
hisses of an angry world ringing in their ears." " Because right 
is right, to follow right were wisdom in scorn of consequence." 

Other events of a more pleasing character occurred shortly 
before and during the occupation. Lafayette, the young and 



VALLEY FORGE. ItI 

noble Frenchman, sympathizing with America in her struggle.". 
for independence, and ambitious to aid our cause, landed on 
our shores in April, 1777. He tendered his services, and was 
soon after commissioned by Congress, with the rank of major- 
general. He became the warm and confidential friend of Wash- 
ington ; was wounded in the battle of Brandywine, where he 
displayed heroic courage. In other battles, and on many occa- 
sions, he rendered valuable aid in those hours of gloom and 
despondency. His presence in camp and field, and his mili- 
tary service, crowned with greatness an honorable life. After 
two years spent in the service of the country he returned to 
France, "marked," as has been eloquently said by one of his 
many eulogists, "by honorable scars, and signalized by the 
thanks of Congress, the admiration of America, and the friend- 
ship of Washington." 

Lafayette and his compeers here, in connection with signifi- 
cant and stirring events in Europe, so influenced the French 
government that Benjamin Franklin, then our minister and 
agent, negotiated a treaty of alliance with France on the 6th 
day of February, 1778, by which that government duly and fully 
recognized our independence. This event filled and thrilled 
every patriotic heart. In the mean time France had declared 
war against Great Britain ; a French fleet was approaching our 
shores ; aid in money and men was near, and hope and encour- 
agement thus given to our people, army, and government. 
Lafayette and France, fighting with and for us the battles of 
freedom, rejoicing in our victories and success, will ever be held 
in grateful remembrance by a grateful nation. 

Nor this alone. Baron Steuben, an honored and noble Prus- 
sian, fired with like ambition, on the 1st day of December, 1777, 
arrived in America, and that winter joined Washington at Val- 
ley Forge. His skill and education in the military art were 
soon brought into requisition. It was greatly needed. The 
army was half naked and famishing when he arrived, the win- 
ter cold, and desolation seemed everywhere. He was appointed 
" inspector-general" with the rank of major-general, and by his 
skill, discipline, and excellent management greatly improved 
the condition of the troops, introduced thorough and rigid dis- 
cipline, and greatly increased the efficiency of officers and men. 



II2 VALLEY FORGE. 

In his military schools (for such his teaching was) he prepared 
the officers for their duties, to order and direct the men under 
them with promptness and intelligence. His military service, 
in the camp and on the battle-field, was most honorable to him- 
self and useful to the cause he so nobly and unselfishly aided. 
Baron Steuben! America's friend in her hour of need! Amer- 
ica, in her prosperity and greatness, reveres and honors the 
name of her friend and the friend of Washington. 

We discuss to-day dry questions of finance : complain of our 
currency, of national banks, demand coin or greenbacks, as 
whim or caprice may dictate, and listen to " sand-hill oratory" 
or communistic folly. All this in the midst of peace and pros- 
perity. What shall we say of the finances of 1777—78? — the 
condition of the national treasury then, and its empty coffers? 
No money except paper money — " Continental money," the 
progenitor of the modern " Fiat money" — of no value, or so 
depreciated as to have but little purchasing power; credit 
gone, and yet a war for home and liberty on our hands ! What 
could our modern financiers have done in such need ? How 
much would their, theories and systems have been worth? 
Greenbacks, double standard, single standard, legal tenders, 
national bank notes, standard dollars, trade dollars ! All this 
may be in order now, but in the gloom of Valley Forge they 
would not be so fully appreciated as their respective advocates 
to-day would desire. Help, then, was needed ; sacrifice, not 
theory; food, clothing, war-material, all must be had. No 
money then, but faith was strong. Robert Morris and a few 
like him came to the rescue. Patriotism inspired by faith tri- 
umphed; the war ended; the debt of the Revolution, if not 
paid in money, was paid in work, — in nation-building, — and, if 
not paid, has been forgiven and forgotten; and we to-day rejoice 
in the work, the sacrifice, and the triumph of our forefathers. 

Valley Forge and its " Memorial Association" furnish im- 
pressive lessons for the culture of our patriotism. Here in full 
detail, written upon its hills and plains, you have its history, 
soul-stirring and instructive. These scenes and their inspira- 
tion are the eloquence of the hour, the most impressive oration 
that can be delivered. No orator of ancient or modern fame 
could or can equal them in the power and grandeur of their 



VALLEY FORGE. H3 

utterance. My words are but the faint, feeble echoes of these 
living and historic voices. History has its lessons ; and the 
battle-fields of the Revolution, of the American Union, are 
factors in the great work of civilization in its onward sweep of 
progress and development. Let us learn these lessons, prac- 
tise these precepts, and make our impress for good on the age 
in which we live. 

Why preserve the memory of other years, — the names and 
deeds of those who have gone before us ? Why Bunker Hill 
and Stony Point? Why should Lexington or Concord be 
remembered ? Why Saratoga or Yorktown ? Why Faneuil 
Hall in Boston, and Independence Hall in Philadelphia? Why 
Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Valley Forge ? 
Why should aH these and other places of renown be named 
above their fellows, and be more highly honored ? They are 
indeed sacred places. They are the altars erected by our 
fathers to liberty and humanity, and consecrated by their blood; 
and when our children and our children's children shall stand 
upon and near these altars, roused by the memories and asso- 
ciations that crown and crowd around them, recognizing their 
dependence upon the God of their fathers, and their fathers' 
work in achieving our independence, in giving to us happy 
homes, a free government, the church and the school-house, 
free schools and a free and open Bible, American citizenship 
and American nationality, they will there renew their devotion 
to their country, and with firm resolve declare "that this govern- 
ment of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not 
perish from the earth." 

Thanks, then, sincere thanks to the ladies of Pennsylvania, 
especially and earnestly to those near and around these " Head- 
quarters," for the organization that has called us here, " The 
Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge." 

They design to purchase and dedicate these " Headquarters 
of Washington" to the American people, now in the full en- 
joyment of the liberty and peace secured here and on many 
battle-fields ; and to the memory of the gallant dead — officer 
and private soldier — who died that America might be free ; to 
make this spot the American Mecca, to which thousands upon 
thousands shall come from the East and West, the North and 



ii4 



VALLEY FORGE. 



South, citizens of a great and free republic, and here honor and 
revere the memory of the brave men whose valor won for them 
and us the country of our home and love. All honor to the 
American soldier, — the soldier of the Revolution! Let us con- 
secrate the places, and gather and preserve the relics, that will 
perpetuate their memory and fame. 

How precious are the old memories in our own homes and 
households! The ring worn by a beloved mother now in her 
grave, how we cherish it as a holy thing ! Even the simplest 
article of the household, that a mother's or a father's hand held 
and used, how cherished and sacredly kept ! As with home, 
so with country. Patriotism is not merely a sentiment; it is a 
principle born in our nature and part of our humanity. There- 
fore we rejoice in the present, and honor those who in other 
years labored and died to make our nation great. Home and 
country ! alike in the heart's best affections ; present enjoyment 
and happy memory increase our devotion to both and intensify 
our patriotism. We are here to-day to illustrate history and 
perpetuate these memories. .The ladies of this "Association," 
by and through its organization, desire to accomplish this. 
May they be successful; and by your generous help they will. 
When patriotism ceases to be a virtue, and liberty be known 
only as a name, then, and not till then, will Valley Forge, with 
its romantic and heroic memories, be forgotten. 

In the name of the ladies of this association, of the mothers 
and daughters of America, as the friends of Washington and 
your country, I appeal to you to aid them promptly and liber- 
ally. By the memories of this place, its hallowed associations, 
by the victories that followed suffering here, stand by them ; en- 
courage and aid them financially, with " greenbacks" or " coin," 
or both, that they may not only pay in full for the " Head- 
quarters" and lot of ground already secured, but, if possible, to 
purchase the land occupied by camp and trench, — the hills and 
fields around us, made sacred by tried devotion to a noble 
cause, — and dedicate all to American honor and nationality. 

We have heard oft and long of the " Fathers of the Revolu- 
tion." Were there no Mothers of the Revolution ? Yes ! 
thousands ; true, devoted, heroic mothers of heroes, statesmen, 
soldiers; mothers who, in the quiet of home, moulded and 



VALLEY FORGE. 



"5 



marked the manners and the life of multitudes of men whose 
names adorn and whose fame gives brightness to the historic 
page. Yes ! mothers, sisters, wives, who, although not armed 
with sword and spear, or clothed in military trappings, yet 
were full of zeal and energy, hopeful when men despaired, 
encouraged the timid, withheld not sacrifice when required, 
inspired their husbands and sons with new zeal, buckled on 
their armor, and then, with " God bless you !" sent them to 
the battle-field, to die, if need be, for freedom, home, and coun- 
try. These were true heroes ; loyal as the men, and brave as 
they. But where is their record? where their history? But 
few of these honored names are on fame's roll. Justice in his- 
tory for them almost unknown. Although unrecorded, they 
live in the memory and love of thousands; their services, 
though unacknowledged, were real ; by their aid our fathers 
conquered and our country lives. 

The mothers of the Revolution are not all nameless; not all 
without historic recognition. On the banks of the Potomac, at 
Mount Vernon, in a simple tomb, is seen a sarcophagus of pure 
white marble. No labored epitaph tells of the dead enclosed 
therein; no record, no monumental shaft; all silent and noise- 
less there. On that sarcophagus a name, a single word, with- 
out prefix or adjunct. Simple and alone, it tells the story of a 
noble life. Go, stand by that tomb and read the name. I need 
not repeat it. The world has heard and honors it. You know 
and revere the name, — "Washington;" itself his eulogy, his 
epitaph, his fame. 

Now go with me to another tomb, in the cemetery of an in- 
land town in Virginia, not far distant from Mount Vernon. 
We enter the cemetery and draw near to a plain, modest grave. 
No monumental pillar there; no mausoleum; no epitaph or 
panegyric to herald the virtues of the sleeper. A plain marble 
headstone, with plain inscription, — a name, a. fact. Naught else. 
Draw near and read, " Mary, the Mother of Washington." 
Simple, significant, impressive. Mothers of America, read and 
learn your power and influence as mothers ! What nobler 
record of a true and pure life? What higher honor could a 
mother claim? " Mary, the Mother of Washington," — 
" Washington, the Father of his Country." Who can 



XI 6 VALLEY FORGE. 

doubt, that knows her history, that in the quiet of home, by his 
mother's side, and nursed upon her knees, by her teaching and 
prayers, she moulded the character and gave direction to the 
heart and life of that son whose monument is not a stone, but 
a nation? 

The lessons of this place and hour are many. Here we are 
taught loyalty and devotion to country. Let " unity, liberty, 
fraternity" be our watchwords ; " In God we trust" our motto 
and our faith. Let us check the violence and rancor of party 
spirit, of partisan denunciation and abuse. Let us differ as 
men, each recognizing in the other an equal right to his pecu- 
liar opinions, and to express them. Let not political differ- 
ences disturb personal friendship, nor engender personal hatred. 
" Friendship towards all, malice towards none," should be our 
creed and practice. 

Let us, as citizens of "The United States of America," cultivate 
the policy of peace in its true and reforming power. It does not 
mean abject submission to any man or set of men ; it does not 
mean cowardice in the holding and expression of opinions ; it 
does not mean treason in expression or act. The policy of 
peace means " union" not sectionalism ; nationality , not confed- 
eration ; American citizenship, not State allegiance or supremacy ; 
a solid Union, not a solid North nor a solid South. It means equal 
rights to all, in all the States of the Union, at all times and 
under all circumstances. It means free thought, free speech, 
free schools, a free and constitutional ballot, and fair elections 
everywhere and for all citizens, without distinction of race, color, 
or condition. It means no Kuklux desperadoes, no shot-gun 
policy, no rifle brigades, red-shirted and bloody, to make elec- 
tions a farce and a fraud. No, none of these ! Let us and every 
true citizen, north, south, east, and west, stand by the Union, 
the Constitution, and the laws. Let us labor to maintain and 
advance the peace, harmony, and prosperity of our whole coun- 
try ; the friendship and brotherhood of all our citizens. So long 
as the American people are true to the memories and principles 
of the Revolution, to the heroes of that hour and the rights for 
which they fought, suffered, and died, this nation cannot perish. 
Treason in any form must not be tolerated. Traitors must not 
rule. "Loyal men must govern Loyal America!" These were 



VALLEY FORGE. 



\\y 



the sentiments of Washington and his compeers at Valley- 
Forge, — the sentiments now of every true and loyal citizen. 
May our Union and liberties be perpetual, our brotherhood and 
friendship lasting as our liberties ! 

Thanks again to the ladies for this " Memorial Association." 
Pennsylvania, within whose borders so many memorable events 
occurred, and so many historic places are located, must aid 
them in this enterprise, must vindicate her position and honor, 
and do justice to herself in history. But I must close. 

These memorial services — this consecration of battle-fields 
and scenes, the memory of trials and sufferings, of defeat and 
triumph — are, as already said, the grand factors in the work 
of progress and civilization, inspiring and conservative, and 
strengthen our determination to preserve and perpetuate. Our 
nation is to-day the epitome of the world's civilizations. The 
blood of nations is in our veins. These mixed races have added 
to our strength ; they are progressive and conquering, not sta- 
tionary or retrograde as are the unmixed races. Progress marks 
the character of our age. We are a " fast" people. To move is 
the rule ; to stand still the ignoble exception. Our activities 
are almost " audacious," our extravagances nearly chronic. But 
we must not criticise too severely our faults and follies. 
Shadows are the creations of light, and cannot exist without it. 
Our extravagances are the result of our exuberant activity and 
strength, — " bubbles upon the surface of society to show the 
direction and flow of its mighty current; the natural yet super- 
fluous offshoots of our vigorous and progressive civilization." 
Science, art, labor, and invention, rejoicing in this progressive 
activity, have their proud record in the steam printing-press, — 
books, newspapers, daily and weekly, magazines, reviews, — 
schools, colleges, universities, churches, in the steam-engine, 
steam-ship, the locomotive, railroad, steam everywhere, in mill 
and factory, furnace and forge, on land and water, as also in the 
discoveries of astronomy, chemistry, electricity, electro-magnet- 
ism, the telegraph, telephone, microphone, electric light, and 
the multitudinous appliances to promote our progress and 
increase our knowledge. 

To preserve what has been thus secured and acquired, these 
activities must be directed aright and made to produce other 



H8 VALLEY FORGE. 

and grander achievements. The true moral force to direct will 
be found in intelligence, truth, and virtue, and these as illus- 
trated and enforced in that Book of books, the Bible, the guide 
and strength of manhood in its power and usefulness. The age 
demands our energy, our activity, and courage. It demands 
intellect rather than muscle, knowledge more than vanity, brains 
more than money, personal virtue and honor more than mere 
social position or the flash and glare of fashion. 

To the young men who are around me here, to all who love 
their country and revere the memory of the gallant men of the 
Revolution, let me appeal and say, Gird on the armor of a noble 
manhood; of true moral courage. Dare to do right, and being 
right, "Stand in your great array; then onward move and 
strike invincible." Dangers may oppose, but right is might, 
and, sustained by true courage, will triumph in success. When 
Switzerland's hero and deliverer attempted to cross the lake in 
a dark and stormy night, the boatman, his only companion, 
said to him, " Sir, it is impossible to cross the lake in such a 
storm as this." Turning to the boatman, he silenced his fears 
by the stern and resolute reply, " I know not whether it be pos- 
sible ; it must be attempted." The attempt was made, safely he 
crossed, and Switzerland was free. Courage conquered danger, 
and the name of Tell became immortal. 

Patriotism is a virtue, — a power to sustain national honor, 
purity, and life. Cultivate it. It is better than party, truer 
and safer than partisanship or its teachings. Political parties, 
properly organized, and based on principles honestly enter- 
tained, and believed to be, when applied, for the best interests 
of the country, are both useful and necessary. Diversity of 
opinion is not heresy. It should not produce personal hostility, 
nor party rancor. The mere partisan and demagogue, without 
merit or morals, base in his selfishness, corrupt in thought and 
act, is a fraud, a trickster, to be denounced and spurned by 
every good citizen. 

" God give us men ! A time like this demands 

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands: 
Men whom the hist of office does not kill ; 

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy; 
Men who possess opinions and a will ; 

Men who have honor; men who will not lie." 



VALLEY FORGE. 



II 9 



To-day, in the presence of these memorable scenes, the past 
behind us, full of glorious memories, the present with us, grand 
in its realization of assured success, the future before us, bright 
with hope, and awaiting the development of coming years, let 
us all resolve, in the strength of our manhood, and trusting in 
God, that we will, in peace or war, prosperity or adversity, 
maintain the integrity of the American Union, the honor of 
our nation's flag, the proud emblem of the power of a free 
people ; that we will give to our country a pure and unselfish 
devotion; to home and friends our protection and love; to one 
and all our strength and life to defend and save. Let our de- 
votion to home and country be earnest and sincere, constant, 
enduring, fearing no danger, avoiding no sacrifice that may be 
required to preserve our nation's unity and honor. To borrow 
an illustration: imitate, if need be, the example of the youth of 
Paris, who, when listening to Mirabeau in one of his impas- 
sioned flights of oratory in defence of the liberty of France, 
saw him fall from the rostrum, dying, as was proclaimed by the 
physicians, from loss of blood. Baring his arm to the lancet, 
he rushed to the spot, and exclaimed, in all the fervor of 
wild enthusiasm, " Here ! here ! take all ! take my blood ! so 
that Mirabeau and the liberty of France may not perish !" A 
greater than Mirabeau or France claims and demands your de- 
votion. Your country — my country, the free heart's hope and 
home — claims it ; Washington and his patriotic associates-, living 
in history, claim it ; the past, the present, and the future claim 
it; and should the hour ever again come when sacrifice and 
life may be required to save, offer all, give all, so that America 
and her liberties may not perish ! 

In the afternoon the ladies held a reception at the Head- 
quarters, where guests were entertained, by the chorus, and 
shown the historical associations. 

At one o'clock the beautiful gold medal was contested for 
by the State rifle teams. The match continued until nearly 
seven o'clock, the Pennsylvania team being successful. The 
range was five hundred yards. 

At the conclusion of the match the medal was presented to 
Captain Fox, of the Pennsylvania team, by Dr. N. A. Penny- 



120 



VALLEY FORGE. 



packer, and congratulatory speeches were made by Colonel 
Rauch, President of the Pennsylvania Rifle Association, and 
others. 

The Grand Marshal of the day was General William J. 
Bolton, with Colonel M. M. Messimer, of Pottstown, Chief of 
Staff, and several aids. 

At sunset the retiring guns of the Griffin Battery indicated 
that the day's festivities were over, and people wended their 
way homeward. 



APPENDIX. 



HARVEST HOME MEETING 

AT THE VALLEY FORGE ENCAMPMENT GROUNDS, JULY 26, 1828. 

Owing to the fact that the farmers of Eastern Pennsylvania 
are much occupied with their harvesting on or about the Fourth 
of July, and since they cannot conveniently give to the national 
festival that attention it should claim from every lover of his 
country, a custom has grown up to select some day near the 
close of July in which to celebrate their nation's independence 
by a " Harvest Home." 

In accordance with this custom, a very large number of the 
people of Delaware, Chester, and Montgomery Counties as- 
sembled on Saturday, July 26, 1828, at the camping-ground at 
Valley Forge, to celebrate the national holiday. 

The committee of arrangements having in charge this festi- 
val consisted of the following-named gentlemen, to wit: 

David Townsend, Nathaniel Brooke, Maurice Richardson, 
Townsend Haines, David Wilson, Jr., Daniel Abrahams, 
Mathew Roberts, Abraham Brower, Philip Kendall, and 
Thomas Reed. 

The day was, though very warm, beautifully clear and tran- 
quil. The morning was ushered in by the firing of cannon, 
and by eight o'clock the citizens had begun to assemble, and 
by twelve o'clock the number had increased to at least four 
thousand, and continued greatly to increase during the after- 
noon, until the assemblage exceeded the most sanguine ex- 
pectation. 

At noon the Declaration of Independence was read by Dr. 



I2 2 VALLEY FORGE. 

William Harris, of Chester County, in a most effective manner. 
On the stage erected for the occasion were seated some of the 
most venerable and distinguished of the surviving heroes of the 
Revolution, all of whom had participated on the very same 
ground in all the distresses and suffering of our army in 'jj 
and '78. 

When the Declaration was read, the band of music, consist- 
ing of twenty-five pieces, struck up a national air; its fine tones 
were, however, soon lost amid the thundering of cannon and 
the acclamations of the crowd. 

Then an eloquent and masterly oration was pronounced by 
Hon. John G. Watmough. In this the orator showed the pre- 
eminence of civil virtue, and how its principles had constituted 
the very living principle of our existence as a nation from the 
first landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, through the whole Revolu- 
tion, and up to the present in our national affairs. 

Immediately after the oration the company moved to the 
shades of the adjoining woods to partake of an excellent cold 
collation prepared for the occasion by Mr. Abisha J. Woodman, 
of Valley Forge. For this purpose thirteen tables had been 
laid, one hundred and sixty-four feet long each, containing six- 
teen hundred and twenty plates, and all radiating from the outer 
ring of a small circle, within which was the band. 

The following organization was effected, to wit : 

President. — Jonathan Roberts. 

Vice-Presidents. — Townsend Harris, Nathan Pennypacker, 
William Williamson, Colonel David Dickey, David Potts, 
Thomas Smith, Edward Darlington, George Sheaff, Richard B. 
Jones, John Schlater, Dr. Jacob Dewees, Charles S. Iredell, 
Jacob Hagey, and Philip Kendall. 

The seats at the tables were speedily occupied, and the beef, 
ham, potatoes, and bread disappeared rapidly before the keen 
appetites of the company. The larger proportion, however, 
had dined elsewhere, or partaken of refreshments which were 
abundantly offered by numerous sutlers in the woods. The 
actual number of tickets sold was two thousand three hundred, 
and Mr. Woodman furnished beside dinners for seven hundred. 

A few invited guests were seated at the table where Jonathan 
Roberts, Esq., presided, and a succession of apt and patriotic 



VALLEY FORGE. 



123 



sentiments, in the form of toasts, were proclaimed, and met the 
universal approbation of the meeting, testified by loud and re- 
peated cheers. 

There were thirteen toasts offered by the most distinguished 
persons present, some of which were eloquently responded to. 
They were : 

1st. The Fourth of July, 1776, and the memory of the sages who made it a great 
and glorious day. 

2d. The President of the United States, John Q. Adams. Bred up at the feet of 
the sages of the Revolution, his whole life has been a brilliant illustration of their 
virtues and their precepts. 

3d. The Administration of the National Government, — patriotic, wise, economi- 
cal. , 

4th. The Union of the States. 

5th. Washington, — a constellation in himself. Weak eyes cannot peixeive that 
in the blended lustre of his talents and his virtues every star was of the first mag- 
nitude. 

6th. Henry Clay. The intrepid champion of his country's rights, and advo- 
cate of American industry. 

7th. Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce. Equal protection to each. 

8th. Internal Improvement. 

9th. Richard Rush. A patriot and a Pennsylvanian, and the son of a patriot 
and a Pennsylvanian. 

10th. The Tariff. 

nth. The People of Pennsylvania. 

1 2th. The Governor of Pennsylvania. 

13th. The Pennsylvania Delegation in the 20th Congress. 

After the conclusion of the remarks made upon the foregoing 
toasts, forty-three impromptu toasts were offered, responded to 
by gentlemen present. The principal ones were : 

The health of our distinguished guest and fellow-citizen, John Sergeant. 

Civil Magistrates. 

Colonel John G. Watmough, orator of the day. The honorable wounds which 
he received at Erie have now healed to scars. These attest his valor, as the sen- 
timents he has this day pronounced prove that military ardor, chastened by edu- 
cation and reflection, is not incompatible with a profound reverence for the con- 
stitution and laws of the country. 

Colonel Watmough, after responding to this complimentary 
sentiment, introduced, in the following language : " Peter S. Du- 
ponceau, one of the soldiers of the Valley Forge encampment, 
extensively known for his talents and acquirements, and es- 
teemed for his virtues. He deserves the thanks of that country 



124 



VALLEY FORGE. 



whose liberties he assisted by his sword, and whose reputation 
he has raised by his learned labors." 

Mr. Duponceau rose and returned thanks for the honor done 
him, and, after some preliminary remarks, said : 

" But though you feel and know the high state of happiness 
and prosperity to which our country has advanced under the 
auspices of our virtuous rulers, you cannot be made sensible of 
their full extent unless you compare our present situation with 
what it zuas at the time when Washington's brave army occu- 
pied this spot, in the memorable winter of 1778 ; in the times, as 
a great writer of the day expressed himself, that tried men's 
souls. 

" Then you would not have seen the thousands assembled in 
this sequestered spot, partaking of the good cheer of plentiful 
tables, and rending the air with shouts of happiness and joy; 
but in the miserable huts on the site on which these tables now 
stand you would have seen naked and famished soldiers, in the 
depth of a most inclement winter, separated only by this little 
river (the Schuylkill) and the small space of twenty-one miles 
from a numerous, well-fed, well-clothed, and well-disciplined 
hostile army, which a single day's march might have brought 
down upon us. 

" At that time no nation in Europe had acknowledged our 
independence. Except a few insufficient succors, secretly sent 
to us from France, we were left entirely to our own resources, 
which were, alas ! all centred in the courage and patriotism of 
our rulers and of our brave soldiers. 

" Despondency reigned everywhere except in the hearts of those 
who watched and suffered for our safety. I cannot well repre- 
sent to you with what fortitude, resignation, and patience these 
severe trials were borne by the soldiers of the Revolution. They 
never broke into loud murmurs, much less into mutiny or diso- 
bedience. I have seen them, when pressed by hunger, some- 
times pop their heads out of their poor huts, and call out, in an 
undertone, ' No bread, no soldier!' but a single kind word from 
an officer would still their complaints, and they were willing to 
bear everything for the sake of liberty and of their country. 

"They even submitted under these hardships to the strict 
discipline lately introduced among them by Baron Steuben, to 



VALLEY FORGE. 



125 



which they had not been before accustomed. And where was 
at that time your great Washington? Here [pointing to the 
Headquarters at some distance], in that humble dwelling, par- 
taking of all the hardships and privations of his brave followers. 
Shall I describe to you his table, on which was daily served 
(when it could be had) a scanty piece of meat, with some hard 
bread and a few potatoes, where the health and prosperity of 
the nation was drunk in humble toddy, and the luxurious dessert 
consisted of a plate of hickory nuts ? 

" Yet what are the sumptuous tables of the kings and princes 
of Europe compared with the modest board of that illustrious 
man? Had you seen with what dignity he presided at these 
poor repasts, and at the same time how he encouraged those of 
his officers whom he admitted to the honor of partaking of 
them, you would have witnessed a scene worthy of the pencil 
of Homer and of the greatest poets of ancient or modern times. 

" But I have not told you all. It is but little known, and it 
ought to be known everywhere, that his incomparable wife, Mrs. 
Washington, shared with him in all the dangers and hardships 
of this never-to-be-forgotten winter. Yes, Mrs. Washington 
encamped at Valley Forge in the winter of 1778, undauntedly 
following the fortunes of her husband and of her country. I 
still see her at the head of that table, with her mild but digni- 
fied countenance. Grave, yet cheerful, her countenance and her 
manner reflected the feelings of the hero whose name she 
gloried to bear. Her presence inspired fortitude, and those who 
came to her with almost desponding hearts retired full of hope 
and confidence in the wisdom of their rulers, in the talents of 
their chief, and in the high destinies of their country. 

" Now, my fellow-citizens, compare those dreary scenes with 
what you now witness, look at the degree of prosperity which 
our country has attained under the guidance of the wise ad- 
ministrations who have succeeded each other to the present 
moment, and do not abandon the positive good which you now 
enjoy." 

Mr. Duponceau, in concluding, offered the following toast : 

Old Chester and Montgomery Counties, — the former of which was honored with 
the first footsteps of the great founder of Pennsylvania, and the presence of Wash- 
ington and his brave army in the most trying times of the Republic, and both dis- 



I2 g VALLEY FORGE. 

tinguished by the virtue and patriotism of their citizens, — happiness and prosperity 
to them ! 

The volunteer toasts were now offered in quick succession. 
Among them were, — 

Jonathan Roberts. 

Dr. Samuel Anderson. 

The Farmers of Pennsylvania. 

Commodore William Bainbridge. 

The United States — the only happy country on the globe. 

Labor — honorable and useful. 

The Valley Forge Encampment. The footsteps of our fathers marked it with 
blood. From the soil thus fertilized have sprung the fruits of independence and 
peace. 

Internal Improvement and Domestic Manufactures. 

Mathew Carey. 

Our Venerable Guest, Captain Alexander Moore, one of the "living records of 
the Revolution," who endured the hardships of our countrymen upon this hallowed 
ground with the army of Washington. 

Our Manufactures. 

The Surviving Patriots of the Revolution. 

Henry Clay — the fearless defender of the rights of man. 

Charles Miner and Dr. Samuel Anderson. 

Domestic Industry. 

General Andrew Jackson. 

The American Revolution. 

Abner Lacock. 

Kentucky. 

The Memory of General Washington. 

Pennsylvania, when aroused to her interest, will defend it upon American prin- 
ciples, — the principles of reason, sound policy, and free elections. 

The People of Pennsylvania, true to the interests of the Union. 

The Memory of Anthony Wayne, the Revolutionary hero of Chester County. 

Universal Suffrage and Equal Rights. 

John Sergeant. 

Charles Miner. 

Military Chieftains, Ministers of the Gospel, and Statesmen, entitled to the grati- 
tude of their fellow-citizens. 

The meeting broke up at an early hour, and separated with- 
out one single accident or unpleasant occurrence to mar the 
general satisfaction of the participants. 

The foregoing short synopsis of the proceedings of this very 
interesting meeting is obtained by the writer from an old pam- 
phlet now in the possession of Mrs. Hannah Ogden, late the 
owner of the " Headquarters," and is believed to be the only 



VALLEY FORGE. 



127 



copy extant. The pamphlet consists of twenty-nine pages of 
closely-printed matter, and is intended to be placed on file in 
the Headquarters building for general reference. 



THE DEATH OF HENRY ARMITT BROWN. 

APPROPRIATE ACTION BY THE VALLEY FORGE CENTENNIAL 

ASSOCIATION. 

The Historian's Tribute to the Dead Orator — Eulogies by Hon. B. 
M. Boyer, Mr. Joseph E. Thropp, Dr. N. A. Pennypacker, and Others 
— Resolutions of Respect — Funeral Services in Philadelphia. 

A meeting of the Valley Forge Centennial Association was 
held on Saturday evening, August 24, 1878, at the residence 
of the President, Mr. I. W. Smith, at Valley Forge, to take 
action in regard to the death of Henry Armitt Brown, Esq., of 
Philadelphia, the orator of the late Centennial Celebration. Mr. 
Smith having called the meeting to order, Colonel Theodore 
W. Bean, of Norristown, moved the appointment of a com- 
mittee on resolutions, which was carried, the Chair appointing 
Colonel T. W. Bean, Mr. Joseph E. Thropp, Hon. B. M. Boyer, 
Dr. N. A. Pennypacker, and John O. K. Robarts, Esq. The 
committee reported the following : 

It having pleased the Omnipotent Ruler of the Universe to 
call from our midst a cherished friend and member of the Asso- 
ciation, an accomplished orator and historical scholar, a devoted 
and patriotic citizen of the Commonwealth, whose brief and 
brilliant career inspired the hope of future eminence and great 
usefulness ; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That this Association and community have learned 
with profound regret of the death of Henry Armitt Brown, an 
event by which society has lost one of its brightest ornaments 
and the country one of its most justly distinguished and influ- 
ential citizens. 

Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the afflicted 
family of the deceased in this their hour of bereavement, and 



I2 8 VALLEY FORGE. 

tender them our sincere condolence, trusting their irreparable 
loss may be his immortal gain. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, under the seal 
of the Association, be forwarded to the family of the deceased. 

Having read the resolutions, Colonel Bean said : 

Mr. President : — In moving the adoption of these resolu- 
tions, I am deeply impressed with the solemn and melancholy 
event which suggests them. Truly, in the midst of life we are 
in death. But a few weeks ago, it seems but a few days, we 
sat with the enraptured multitude and gave willing ear to his 
eloquent voice, fresh from a glowing and vigorous manhood. 

Now, that silvery tongue is stilled forever on earth ; never, 
nevermore will it attune our memories to the sacrificial past 
which has made Valley Forge, and the splendid oratory of 
Henry Armitt Brown, one and inseparable for all time to come. 
Not all the pure and devoted friendships of this world spring 
from the associations of childhood, the ties of blood, or the fel- 
lowship of academical training; nay, it is often reserved to ma- 
tured manhood in the exercise of its highest possibilities, to 
disclose the purest and most exalted motives, inspiring fidelity 
and constancy, which perishes not with the breath of life, but 
lives in the immortality of memory. 

My intercourse with the deceased as a co-worker in the 
interest of this Association was of the most pleasing and profit- 
able character, and the friendship which resulted from it seems 
now, more than ever, the most charming of my life. I recall 
with feelings of sorrow I cannot express the hour of parting on 
the evening of the memorable 19th of June. Passing the stir- 
ring events of the day rapidly in review, and congratulating 
the entire management upon the success attained, he remarked 
that he intended following the example of Washington by 
making an early visit to the dear old hills alone, that he might 
the more critically study their history, and the imperishable 
lessons they teach. Truly we may say, 

" The words which thou hast utter'd 
Are of thy soul a part ; 
And the good seed thou hast scatter'd 
Is springing from the heart." 



VALLEY FORGE. 



I29 



Henry Armitt Brown was a patriot. His love of country 
was intensified by careful study of its history, and his highest 
ambition was to successfully emulate the distinguished men 
who made it worthy of his research. To this task he brought 
a high order of natural ability, with rare scholarly attainments, 
a purity and unselfishness of life which peculiarly fitted him for 
those offices of trust and commanding influence which surely 
awaited him in the future. Gifted beyond most men, he was 
singularly modest in the consciousness of his power to reach 
and move them. His commanding influence, so freely exer- 
cised in behalf of the purer and better tendencies of political 
life, will be sadly missed. 

As I stood beside his lifeless form to-day, surrounded by 
grief-stricken friends, his last words spoken to his countrymen 
with an earnestness and eloquence which none who heard him 
can forget, came back to my memory and seemed to round up 
a life perfect in its devotion to country, — " What nobler spec- 
tacle can you present to mankind to-day than that of a people 
honest, steadfast, and secure, mindful of the lessons of experi- 
ence, true to the teachings of history, led to the loftiest exam- 
ples, and bound together to protect their institutions at the 
close of a century, as their fathers were to win them at the 
beginning, by the ties of virtue, honor, and love of country; by 
that virtue which. makes perfect the happiness of a people, — by 
that honor which constitutes the chief greatness of a State, — by 
that patriotism which survives all things, endures all things, 
braves all things, and which, though it find a refuge nowhere 
else, should live in the heart of every true American?" And 
then, as though the spirit of prophecy had fallen upon him in 
closing the grandest effort of his life, he pronounced his bene- 
diction upon the day and event in those eloquent words that 
will long be cherished by the thousands who heard him for the 
last time on earth : 

" Our lives are like the sand upon the shore, our voices like 
the breath of the summer breeze that stirs the leaf for a moment 
and is forgotten. Whence we come, and whither we shall go, 
not one of us can tell. And the last survivor of this mighty 
multitude shall stay but a little while. And unto Him who 
holds in the hollow of His hand the fate of nations, and yet 

9 



joq VALLEY FORGE. 

marks the sparrow's fall, let us lift our hearts this day, and into 
His eternal care commend ourselves, our children, and our 
country." 

There was a custom among the nations of antiquity upon the 
death of their distinguished men, to hold inquests upon their 
character. If the verdict of the inquest was found to accord 
with the reputation of the dead man for honesty, wisdom, and 
greatness, his body was embalmed with great care and at great 
cost, and a solemn eulogy was pronounced at his grave. In- 
quests have been held upon the matchless character of the lost 
orator of the day, and over this broad land, from bench and bar, 
from pulpit, press, and people, from grateful admirers, loving 
friends, and the broken circle of the fireside, come universal 
tokens, tributes, and testimonials to the dutiful son, the affec- 
tionate husband, the Christian father, to the scholar, the lawyer, 
the orator, statesman, and above all to the God-loving man, who 
lived and died with unbroken honor. 

Henry Armitt Brown is dead. The soul of honor, the in- 
spiration of truth, the purity and simplicity of daily life marked 
in the frank expression of face and generous manner of person 
will meet us no more ; but his example of manly virtues, his 
many excellences of head and heart, his acknowledged influ- 
ence upon the public mind, will long be cherished and, let us 
hope, emulated by those who mourn his untimely loss. 

" Peace be your portion till the voice of God 

Calls on His own to leave the grave and live — 
Then, voice sublime, make answer while the rod 
And staff of God support and comfort give." 

He was followed by Mr. Joseph E. Thropp, of Consho- 
hocken, who said : 

Mr. President: — In seconding these resolutions, my thoughts 
revert to the last meeting we had in this house, when we rejoiced 
together at the success of our labors in connection with the 
Centennial on the 19th of June, little thinking that ere long " our 
joy would be turned to sadness," and we would meet to pay 
honor to the memory of the central figure in that day's display. 
But such is God's will, — unsearchable and past finding out, and 
yet we know 'tis well. We bow before it with hearts overflowing 
with sadness as we think of him whom to know was to love and 



VALLEY FORGE. 



131 



admire ; young, gifted, vigorous, above all, pure. Such was 
Henry Armitt Brown. 

It is not for me to attempt to do justice to his life, yet I can- 
not refrain from bearing my feeble tribute to his many lofty 
virtues. Whether in college, in his office, on the rostrum, or 
in his home, everywhere the same elevation of mind, simplicity 
of character, and purity of heart were manifested. As if it 
were yesterday, I recall the words of a friend, — the head of 
one of our noblest charities, — while returning from one of its 
anniversaries several years ago ; though little given to praise, 
this staid man of business was enthusiastic in his tributes to the 
then young lawyer, an invited participant in the ceremonies, 
who, he said, would yet make his mark in the world. And so 
it has come to pass, for though, in his own matchless words, 
"Our lives are like the sands upon the shore; our voices like 
the breath of this summer breeze that stirs the leaf for a 
moment and is forgotten," yet the footprints such men make 
stand the waves of many years ere they fade away. To one of 
his delicate sensibilities the profession of law was distasteful, 
and though a front place at the bar seemed to be waiting for 
him, he forsook it and early turned his attention to " getting 
wisdom and understanding, and they brought him to honor, 
and gave to his head an ornament of grace, — the promised 
crown of glory." He communed with the wisest men of the 
past, and learned lessons for the present and future. To the 
State and the welfare of her people he devoted his energies, 
not from narrow greed nor for personal gain and advancement, 
but that he might strengthen the one by relieving, purifying, 
and elevating the other. 

Never shall I forget one of the last conversations I had with 
him when we. met in the Episcopal convention, where he had 
come to hear the formal opening of the contest with ritual- 
ism in the church, a contest which, with his keen foresight, 
he saw would be fraught with great interest and importance. 
Turning from thoughts of the debate, during a lull, his face 
shone with delight as he entered into the details of a great 
charitable reform, in which he was interested, sought to be 
brought about in Philadelphia and other cities. Though sur- 
rounded with every comfort, refinement, and luxury of life, his 



132 



VALLEY FORGE. 



thoughts were ever of the people, and whether his energies 
were exerted to reform the municipal government, or to purify 
the national, to alleviate the sufferings of mankind, or to purify 
and lift them by giving them a higher standard of manhood 
and spreading the influence of a pure religion among them, his 
object was ever the same, not his own, but others' good. He 
looked behind the dress or cottage to the happiness and worth 
which they contained. Like Burns, rank or position were 
naught to him, " 'twas man the gowd" he considered, and for 
him he labored. " It shall be," said he, "the peculiar pride of 
every American that under our free institutions there is for 
every man a chance, and no aristocracy is possible but one of 
brains and character." 

His earliest efforts at oratory commanded the attention and 
admiration of learned jurists and the people, and all alike 
looked forward to his future as being full of promise. Nor did 
he in his short life disappoint them, for as he grew in personal 
grace with his years increased his wisdom, and its infallible 
attendant, — sympathy. He studied the lives and works of the 
fathers, and portrayed their characters and deeds in glowing 
periods. He had a most delicate sensibility to the beautiful, 
and, like Byron, " the young Napoleon of the realms of rhyme," 
he had a peculiar felicity in finding those appropriate words 
which paint almost to the eye 

" What oft was thought, but ne'er so well expressed." 

Gladly, were it within my means, would I have transferred 
to canvas some of the pen-pictures of his Valley Forge ora- 
tion. He was not unlike Edmund Burke, ever espousing the 
cause of Justice, and had he lived he would have ranked with 
that eminent essayist and statesman. God had given him 
wonderful talents, and he showed his sense of the responsibility 
by using them ever for the right. Never did the keen sword 
of his wit and logic rust in its scabbard when the cause of his 
country or humanity needed it. 

Though he labored in different fields, like Burns and Byron, his 
young life ended ere it had scarcely begun, but, to his perpetual 
glory be it said, the sun of his life set without a cloud upon it. 

The young men of our country should make his life a study; 



VALLEY FORGE. 



133 



no more perfect model could be found, for in him they see what 
a young man has done. " Mark the perfect man and behold 
the upright." We can ill spare such. Other men have been 
polished, great, and popular; there have been few whose char- 
acters were so well rounded and so pure, — the peer of Sumner 
and Phillips; reaching up to the plane of Everett, he rose like 
a pillar of perfect symmetry. Who can tell what might have 
been the capital ? 

We all remember how we listened entranced to that master- 
piece of commanding oratory he delivered on these hills. Did 
we in our rapture of delight think of the cost of such knowl- 
edge as he possessed, of the weary days of labor and nights 
devoid of ease? Little did he or I think, several months ago 
when he told me he would make it the greatest effort of his 
life, that it would be the last. 

Whatever he undertook he did to some purpose. As a poli- 
tician he was of the highest stamp ; as an orator he already 
ranked among the greatest ; as a writer he was forcible, grace- 
ful, and scholarly ; as a private gentleman he was modest and 
unassuming, — courteous and chivalric, — ever forgetful of self 
and thoughtful of others ; as a Christian full of charity and of 
that faith which makes the future happier than the present; for 
him to die was gain. 

The next speaker was Mr. I. H. Todd, who said : 
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Valley Forge 
Centennial Association : — We are called together here to- 
day to mourn the loss and offer our heartfelt sympathy to the 
bereaved family of Henry Armitt Brown ; not that we need this 
call to remind us of our great loss, for as the news of his death 
flashed over the wires it struck a great grief into the heart of 
every member of this Association. Truly through his death 
grief came to our own doors, for it was on these hills that his 
last burst of eloquence was ever heard. Here he paid his last 
tribute to the memory of the sainted dead, and told us in words 
of burning eloquence of their terrible suffering on the hills of 
Valley Forge. It was here he mapped out the progress of the 
last one hundred years, and pictured to us the lessons thereof 
that we might profit thereby. In his death the galaxy of orators 



134 



VALLEY FORGE. 



has lost its brightest star and society one of its most honored 
guests, for his congeniality was only surpassed by his great mind 
and oratory. At a little over thirty years of age he held, as it 
were, entranced, thousands by his great reasoning and eloquence. 
Looking around among the orators of the day, we see but a few 
who have not gained a good ripe age before they have attained 
that great sublimity of mind and character which seemed bound 
up in him. Well do I remember, for it is but a little over two 
short months since we two traversed these hills together look- 
ing for the most favorable spot for the delivery of his oration, 
and as we walked along, talking and jesting, and wondering 
who, if any of us, would ever live to see the next centennial, 
little did I think then, in the great race for the next one, that 
he would be the first to be cut down ; that he whose remains 
they have laid away to rest to-day, that Henry Armitt Brown 
would be the first to be claimed by death as his own. May we 
follow his illustrious example! 

Mr. William H. Holstein said : 

It was my purpose in seconding the adoption of the report 
to have borne testimony to the great worth of our departed 
brother, but that has already been done. The report will doubt- 
less be unanimously adopted, after which I shall move that it 
be published, together with the remarks of our brethren. 

Hon. B. M. Boyer was the next speaker. 

Mr. Chairman: — I can add but little to that which has been 
already so well said by those who have preceded me. But I 
cannot be altogether silent upon this occasion. Young as he 
was, the fame and influence of Henry Armitt Brown reached 
far beyond the city of his birth and residence; and whilst there 
a great metropolis this day mourns his loss and honors his 
obsequies, we gather here also among the hills of Valley Forge 
to testify our participation in the general grief. 

It was here that the last public act of his life was performed. 
It is we who heard the last, public utterances of that eloquent 
tongue now silent in the grave. In the magnificent oration he 
then pronounced all that best exemplified his public career 
appeared. The exalted patriotism — the scholarly research — 



VALLEY FORGE. ^5 

fidelity to truth — noble thoughts — and the conscientious ful- 
filment of every duty belonging to the occasion, — these were 
as characteristic of the orator as of the man himself. The 
sonorous voice, flexible and musical, as it then fell upon our 
ears, and the eloquent diction and graceful presence of the 
orator, the thousands whose privilege it was to hear him upon 
that memorable day will never forget. 

The mystery of death none of us can solve, and we must all 
bow before the inscrutable decree of Providence which so often 
calls away from earth the noblest and best beloved in the flush 
of youth, and hope, and usefulness. 

But the brief life of Henry Armitt Brown has not been lived 
in vain. His example will still survive to stimulate the young 
and noble-minded to exalted aims. In him affluence did not 
produce idleness ; indeed, it may be that his exertions to fit 
himself for a life of useful influence were greater than his phys- 
ical constitution could endure. 

Politics did not lower in him the standard of high morality 
and honor. His ambition was founded upon his patriotism. 
Nothing could have tempted his integrity, and no partisanship 
could have made him subservient to mean or narrow purposes. 
How safe would be the Republic, and how glorious its destiny, 
were all its sons like him ! 

Dr. N. A. Pennypacker said he could not let the occasion 
pass without adding his tribute to the honored dead. "My 
acquaintance with him," he said, "was limited. I met him 
in our Association for the first time, but our acquaintance 
there was not entirely new, although it was the first time I 
had the pleasure of taking him by the hand. I have met 
many men in my short life in different spheres and in different 
places, but I must say, and I say it truly, that I have never 
met a man whose hand I took and whose eye looked into mine 
with greater Christian confidence than did his. I felt I knew 
him then. I felt him my friend, and in subsequent meetings I 
met him not as a stranger whom I had casually met before, 
but as a friend. The most pleasing moment of my life was 
when I listened to his oration, in his truthful and noble thought 
and Christian confidence. The benediction he there gave upon 



i3 6 



VALLE Y FORGE. 



us, the people, his country and our country, made my heart leap 
with joy and my eyes overflow with tears. I then knew the 
depth of his Christian character, for no man could stand before 
such an audience upon such an occasion and make an expres- 
sion of such thoughts without really thinking them. Sir, we 
may here really mourn his loss, not as a casual member of society, 
but as a member of our Association whom we greatly love. But 
it is said that death loves a shining mark. As it has been well said 
by one of prominence before me, little did we think the brightest 
face among us should go. God's ways are inscrutable. We can- 
not know nor fathom them. Mr. President, with sadness and sor- 
row I add my tribute of respect and honor to these resolutions." 

The report of the committee was unanimously adopted by 
rising in silence, and, on motion of Mr. Thropp, the Chair ap- 
pointed a committee, consisting of Mr. Jos. E. Thropp, Colonel 
Theo. W. Bean, and Hon. B. M. Boyer, to convey the resolu- 
tions to the family of the deceased. 

The funeral of Mr. Brown took place on Saturday afternoon, 
from the residence of his mother, corner of Twenty-first Street 
and De Lancey Place, Philadelphia, and was largely attended by 
the members of the legal profession and his friends. 

The body was laid out in a cloth-covered casket, with oxi- 
dized handles, and he was dressed in a full black suit of clothes. 
On the lid of the coffin was a silver plate with his name and 
the date of his birth and death. 

Around the room were numerous floral offerings, some being 
of the most handsome character, embracing crosses, wreaths, 
broken column, and harps. At the house, shortly before three 
o'clock, there was a short funeral service, conducted by Rev. 
Dr. Morton. The remains were then taken to the Church of 
St. James the Less, Twenty-second and Chestnut Streets, the 
following gentlemen acting as pall-bearers: Samuel Dickson, 
Wayne MacVeagh, Isaac Hazlehurst, Theodore Starr, E. H. 
Hanscom, Mr. Hollingsworth, Victor Guillou.and Mr. Ridgway. 

At the church the lid was taken off the casket, and the large 
crowd given an opportunity to view the remains. The services 
were conducted by Dr. Morton. After the services the inter- 
ment took place at South Laurel Hill. 



VALLEY FORGE. 



137 



OFFICERS OF THE VALLEY FORGE CENTENNIAL 
ASSOCIATION. 



ISAAC W. SMITH, President. 



JOHN ROBB, Secretary. 



JOHN W. ECKMAN, Treasurer. 

COMMITTEES. 

Field and Organization. 



COL. THEO. W. BEAN, 

COL. JAMES BOYD, 

DR. N. A. PENNYPACKER, 

GEN. B. F. FISHER, 

CAPT. W. W. NEVIN, 

GEN. J. R. DOBSON, 

COL. JOHN W. SCHALL, 

GEN. WM. J. BOLTON, 

J. P. HALE JENKINS, Secretary, 



JOS. B. HANCOCK, 
M. S. LONGAKER, 
AMOS GARTSIDE. 
COL. W. W. H. DAVJS, 
ADJT.-GEN. JAMES W. LATTA, 
JOS. E. THROPP, 
J. O. K. ROBARTS, 
ISAAC W. SMITH. 



Historical Paper, Poem, and Oration. 

J. SMITH FUTHEY, Esq., 
CHAS. H. PENNYPACKER, Esq., 
WASHINGTON TOWNSEND, Esq., 



MAJ. R. R. CORSON, 
REV. C. COLLINS. 



JOHN W. ECKMAN, 
FRANKLIN T. BEERER, 
JOHN C. RICHARDSON, 
MAJ. B. F. BEAN, 



Memorial Design and Erection. 

MAJ. WM. H. HOLSTEIN, 
MAJ. R. R. CORSON, 
DR. N. A. PENNYPACKER, 
DR. DAVID SCHRACK. 



Music and Entertainment. 



JNO. O. K. ROBARTS, 
LEVI B. KALER, 
COL. N. M. ELLIS, 
N. B. BROOMALL, 
JAMES KEELOR, 
ABEL RAMBO, 
H. G. SCHWENK, 



CHARLES RAMEY, 
H. SLAYER, 
I. HESTON TODD, 
H. H. GILKYSON, 
NELSON O. NAILLF, 
HENRY W. KRATZ. 



133 



VALLEY FORGE. 



Finance. 



JOS. E. THROPP, 

COL. JAMES BOYD, 

GEORGE BULLOCK, 

HON. B. M. BOYER, 

CHARLES H. RODGERS, 

HON. HORATIO GATES JONES, 

STANLEY LEES, 

GEORGE SHANNON, 

WILLIAM AUCHENBACH, 

GEN. DAVID McM. GREGG, 

ROBERT L. ORR, 

LEVI B. KALER, 

MAJ. WM. M. GREINER, 

WM. V. McKEAN, 

J. THEO. HUNTER, 

COL. F. B. SPEAKMAN, 

DR. WM. P. SNYDER, 

A. S. CADWALLADER, 

FREDK. LAUER, 

F. H. CONARD, 



JOHN W. ECKMAN, 
CHARLES MERCER, 
DR. DAVID SCHRACK, 
SAML. F. BUTLER, 
SAML. FETTERS, 
L. G. McCAULLEY, 

lieut. g. r. hoopes, 

capt. john a. groff, 

jos. b. hancock, 

lewis t. baugh, 

wm. h. vodges, 

n. b. broomall, 

s. j. tustin, 

edwin h. fitler, 

col. thomas p. miller, 

robert r. McClelland, 

wm. s. essick, 

john h. rowan, 

col. george w. grant, 

dr. j. bond watt. 



i TRRftRY OF CONGRESS 

■III 

011 699 85 iu-°- 



